Proposed Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels

By Scott Martin
on March 22, 2012 12:26 pm

If you’re considering solar, you might want to consider it more quickly. The cost of solar panels may soon be on their way up. Earlier this week the New York Times reported that the U.S. Commerce Department will begin imposing tariffs on Chinese-made panels, a result of determining that the Chinese government has provided illegal export subsidies to Chinese solar manufacturers. While the tariffs are still small, 2.9 to 4.73 percent, much larger tariffs could be imposed in May after a further review. Since solar panels account for around 50% of the cost of a system (depending on geography and other factors), big tariffs could make the difference between getting power at lower than grid-rates or not.