Category: solar panels

House Republicans Demand Investigation Over DHS Money Being Used to Buy Chinese Solar Panels Made With Forced Labor

Eighteen Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are demanding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conduct an “immediate investigation” on possible federal law violations by sending taxpayer money for the purchase of Chinese-made solar panels. “We are concerned with federal taxpayer dollars Congress has allocated to FEMA for supplemental disaster relief since 2017 and how they…


Questions to Ask Before Installing Solar Panels

A subscriber to my newsletter approached me recently with a dilemma. He’s 81 years old, and he wanted to know if it was a good idea to invest in a rooftop solar system. He knows that he may not live long enough to experience a return on his investment. Should he do it anyway? Now,…


Rights Abuser China Emerging as Dubious Linchpin of Biden’s Lithium-Battery Supply Chain

A Chinese-dominated mining company has procured millions of dollars in American subsidies to extract lithium in the United States—but, given a dearth of U.S. processing capacity, the mineral is likely to be sent to China with no guarantee that the end product would return as batteries to power President Biden’s envisioned green economy. Critics say…


US Solar Prices Soared Over 8 Percent in 2nd Quarter: Report

U.S. solar energy prices rose 8.1 percent in the second quarter as projects were stalled by a Commerce Department investigation into tariffs on products from Southeast Asia and soaring input costs, according to a report published late on Wednesday. The increase during the period contributed to a whopping 29.7 percent rise in the combined price…


Biden Invokes Defense Production Act to Push Green Agenda

President Joe Biden will authorize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to advance his clean energy and climate change agenda, a senior administration official said during a call with reporters. According to the White House, the president will approve the use of the DPA to expand domestic output of clean energy technologies, including solar panels, heat…


Most Australian Solar Farms Exposed to China’s Slave Labour Supply Chains

At least six in every 10 of Australia’s largest solar farms have sourced solar panels from supply chains vulnerable to China’s Uyghur forced labour programmes. The United States, Australia, and other western countries have condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over its human rights abuses against more than a million Uyghurs in Xinjiang, including its…


Uyghur Forced Labor Widespread in Solar Supply Chain: Hudson Institute

A March 9 Hudson Institute talk has drawn renewed attention to the role of Uyghur forced labor in the Chinese-dominated supply chain for solar panels and related technologies. Nury Turkel, a Hudson Institute senior fellow and Uyghur-American human rights activist, spoke with Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at the United…


Building Back Worse

Commentary Say it ain’t so Joe. Your decision on Feb. 4 to remove tariffs on bifacial solar panels imported from China is a death sentence for U.S. solar panel producers, and a giant step toward building American industry down instead of back as you claim you wish to do. Let’s go back in history a…


Ottawa’s Climate Plan a Cautionary Tale for Governments Everywhere

Commentary City of Ottawa politicians have done us all a great favour with their climate change plan. It is not that, at 0.014 percent of world emissions, anything Ottawa does will make any difference to world climate, of course. It is that, by enabling a plan forecast to cost over $57 billion, Ottawa has set…


Australia Funds Ultra Low-Cost Solar To Help Reach Zero Emissions

Australia will be supporting the research and development of ultra low-cost solar energy, a technology that has become a priority in the nation’s bid to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will allocate $40 million out of its $2.5 billion budget for the program with the eventual hope to…