With America’s energy future in mind, President Donald Trump’s Administration has a unique opportunity to embrace a solar sector that is helping to grow our nation’s economy, creating high-paying jobs and reinforcing a competitive free market. Unfortunately, a new trade action by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) would move the United States away from the free market and toward regulated solar markets that prevailed in the past. Proposed tariffs of 40 cents per watt on solar cells and a minimum price of 78 cents a watt on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules would drive up prices for solar panels for residential consumers, corporate customers, and electric utilities. This is after prices have dropped significantly over the last five years. The cost of PV modules dropped nearly 34 percent in just the first half of 2016, according to GTM Research.
