Page 14 - North American Clean Energy March April 2018 Issue

solar power
Custom-Made
in the U.S.A.
by Seth Hansen
ON JANUARY 22, 2018, MANY AMERICANS LOST HOPE IN A
US solar market that was, by all accounts, on track to continue it’s decades- long expansion. When the current Administration implemented a 30 percent tari on solar cells and panels imported into the United States, champions of the clean technology were left saddened, disheartened, and downright angry about the future of solar in the United States.
It’s not as bad as it all seems; there are a few less-publicized key advantages that US-based companies have when it comes to the incredibly competitive solar landscape. For any company aiming to move forward in this new environment, the smartest move is to look at this decision not as a barrier, but an opportunity. e key to success lies in o ering speci c, smaller quantity, and custom solutions to customers. ere are many solar manufacturers who can meet the demands of grid-tie applications, but few who are capable, and positioned, to meet the more niche, small-scale, and remote solutions involved in asset tracking, etc.
In order to fully appreciate the advantages US-based companies possess, we need to rst understand that these tari s won’t apply to imported cells until after 2.5 GW of solar cells are imported. is threshold may or may not be met, but it certainly won’t be met quickly. is allows US companies time to fully realize their place in the solar assembly marketplace before the tari is truly felt, and market pricing is impacted.
ere are less obvious competitive advantages that US-based solar assemblers possess when compared to their Asian-market counterparts.
One advantage is that quality can be controlled in smaller, more focused facilities. ese companies can rapidly evolve to meet a di erent set of challenges; they are geared to provide well-designed product and solid customer service. Many US companies have design, engineering, and manufacturing experts on sta who are dedicated to bringing superior products to both consumers and businesses. Solar authorities on sta ensure that products are inspected, re ned, and tested along the way.
Not only do successful companies have professionals controlling the di erent steps of the solar assembly process, they also have customer service specialists who are ready and willing to ensure that customers have the best possible experience before, during, and after the purchase. You won’t nd this level of attention to detail or dedication to customer happiness on a less expensive panel from China, or other Asian markets which are geared towards large volumes.
Another advantage that US companies possess is the ability to create custom encapsulation stacks to bene t clients' unique needs. Many would look at the volume that US-based companies can provide and see as a disadvantage, but it can also allow for custom batches of product geared toward a speci c demand. China may be considered the solar capital
of the world, but when you see a Chinese-made panel, there’s a good chance that it’s one of a million units that were mass-produced to perform a single, speci c use case. Rather than a one-size- ts-most scenario,
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