Section 201 twist and tax credit reprieve bring double win for US solar

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image credit: George Bakos / Unsplash

US solar developers reeling from COVID-19 impacts were told this week they will be offered both more time to qualify for tax credits and the continued duty-free import of bifacial modules.

The US government made good on its promise earlier this month of a reprieve around tax credits for solar (ITC) and wind (PTC), announcing this week renewable developers will have an extra year to qualify for the government incentive.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The extension of the safe harbor provisions – which firms use to put down the initial 5% of project costs to fully reap the ITC and PTC credits – is meant to help operators facing COVID-19 delays, the US Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said as they outlined the changes this week.

Existing ITC rules mandate a phase-down of the incentives from 2019 (30%) to 2020 (26%) and 2021 (22%), with projects required to complete construction within four years to qualify for safe harboring. The new timetable will give firms five years to do this.

In addition, green energy players paying for components in late 2019 were previously required to receive the goods within three-and-a-half months to be eligible. Instead, the new Treasury and IRS rules will push back this deadline until 15 October 2020.

On Wednesday, law firm Stoel Rives LLP said the update to the so-called '3½ month rule' will help solar players purchasing modules in late 2019 but witnessing supply chain delays from COVID-19. “[The changes] should make financing transactions easier for impacted projects,” the firm said.

Judge blocks Trump’s attempts to undo bifacial duty exemption

The one-year extension to safe-harboring delivers a win to a bipartisan group of US senators. From Republican Lisa Murkowski to Democrat Ron Wyden, the lawmakers had called on the Treasury to enact this very change, arguing that it would ”help preserve hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

US solar body the Solar Energy Industries Alliance (SEIA) – which has documented the stark US solar job losses from COVID-19 – thanked the Treasury for the “additional layer of clarity” from the safe-harboring changes. “Today’s action shows that solar energy is an economic driver with bipartisan appeal,” SEIA said.

The solar association witnessed yet another victory on a separate front this week, as the US Court of International Trade blocked a measure – the lifting of an import duty exemption for bifacial modules – that SEIA has long campaigned against.

On Wednesday, judge Gary S. Katzmann paralysed a move by Donald Trump’s US Trade Representative (USTR) to axe an exemption the department had itself introduced last June, and bring bifacial solar components again under the scope of the Section 201 import duties.

Katzmann – who last December slapped a preliminary injunction on the USTR’s u-turn – said this week he takes “no position” on whether bifacial’s exemption is justified. Instead, he said the Trump administration had failed to make a case for why the injunction should be lifted now.

In a statement on the same day, the USTR said it “strongly disagrees” with judge Katzmann’s analysis. “The solar industry and the jobs it represents are important to this country, and USTR will take all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure that its safeguard relief is effective,” it said.

Safe-harboring and Section 201 exemptions: The documents at the centre of this week's changes

  • US Treasury/IRS Notice 2020-41 setting out the safe harbor changes: See here.
  • Analysis by law firm Stoel Rives LLP of the safe harbor changes: See here
  • Ruling by judge Gary S. Katzmann on bifacial's Section 201 exemption: See here
  • USTR's statement on the ruling on bifacial's Section 201 exemption: See here

PV Tech has set up a dedicated tracker to map out how the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting solar supply chains worldwide. You can read the latest updates here.

If you have a COVID-19 statement to share or a story on how the pandemic is disrupting a solar business anywhere in the world, do get in touch at [email protected] or [email protected].

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.

Read Next

May 20, 2025
The ability of PV simulation software to accurately simulate energy performance for bifacial modules leaves more questions than answers.
May 20, 2025
SOLV Energy has announced plans to build more than 6GW of new utility-scale solar and storage capacity in the US.
May 20, 2025
The three projects, Mammoth South, Mammoth Central I, and Mammoth Central II, have a generation capacity of 300 MW each.
May 20, 2025
Third-party ownership (TPO) of non-residential projects in the US has led commercial and industrial (C&I) and community solar financing in 2024.
May 20, 2025
Changes to tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) could “jeopardise” nearly 300 US solar and energy storage manufacturing facilities, according to trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
May 20, 2025
'We’re here because you do it really well, and we want to learn from you,' Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of SEIA, told PV Tech Premium.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
May 21, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 8, 2025
Asia