THE US Court of International Trade issued an injunction freezing the Trump administration's move to eliminate the provision that exempted bifacial - or double-sided - panels from duties, Bloomberg reports
THE US Court of International Trade issued an injunction freezing the Trump administration's move to eliminate the provision that exempted bifacial - or double-sided - panels from duties, Bloomberg reports. The ruling is a victory for solar-farm developers Invenergy and Clearway Energy Group, which will have a way to circumvent tariffs.
The exclusion for bifacial panels will now remain in place for potentially months until the issue is resolved in court. 'This is an important temporary reprieve,' said Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Abigail Ross Hopper.
But the court's ruling is a setback for companies that make panels in the US. Shares of the largest US panel maker, First Solar lost as much as 3.1 per cent while SunPower Corp sank 2.4 per cent.
The ruling comes as the US International Trade Commission is undertaking a midterm review of the solar tariffs to determine if they should be amended.
Bifacial panels make up a small portion of modules installed at solar farms globally. But they are becoming increasingly popular because they produce more power.
Tara Narayan, an analyst for BloombergNEF (New Energy Forum) a provider of research on clean energy, said keeping the exemption in place even temporarily for two-sided panels will accelerate that trend.
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