Premium

Trump executive order creating fresh anxiety in US solar market

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Donald Trump
Trump’s executive order signed on 7 July 2025 has created “concern and anxiety in the market”, said Anza’s Mike Hall. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.

If one word could describe the state of the US solar industry in the past few months, it would most likely be “uncertainty”.

Hot on the heels of Donald Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” being signed into law on 4 July, a fresh layer of anxiety was added when, on Monday this week, Trump issued an executive order aimed at tightening restrictions on renewable energy tax credits.

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 executive order is certainly creating concern and anxiety in the market. The reconciliation bill that the President signed was certainly bad for the industry, but it wasn’t as bad as previous versions of the bill that we’ve seen in Congress that had much shorter timelines for commenced construction and made it nearly impossible for projects to access the ITC,” Mike Hall, CEO at solar and storage supply chain platform Anza, told PV Tech.

Among the orders signed by Trump earlier this week is the request to the Secretary of the Treasury to come up with new guidance under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the tax credits for renewables. The intention is to tighten up the definition of “beginning of construction” for projects still hoping to qualify for tax credits in the narrow remaining window of opportunity specified in last week’s legislation. The Treasury has been instructed to produce new guidance within 45 days of the enactment of the bill, which is August 17 at the latest.

Hall said that the solar industry was expecting to rely on the 2013 IRS guidance for the definition of “commenced construction”, which allows it to qualify in a couple of different ways. One through continuous on-site construction and the other by incurring 5% of the project’s expense, which is the most common one, Hall added. And there are several ways to incur these 5% of expenses, such as through the purchase of solar modules or by purchasing transformers made specifically for the project.

“[Developers] still need to make a big commitment to the project, but it gives them flexibility,” said Hall, adding:

“With this executive order, developers, IPPs and the industry at large are really concerned and maybe even expecting that the IRS is going to modify that guidance and make it more difficult to qualify for the ITC and get out ahead of the FEOC requirements.”

Despite that possible urgency in the next month and half, Hall said that the good news is there exists “solid precedent and case law” that says if the IRS will issue a new guidance that is adverse to taxpayers (i.e. the project’s company that is taking the tax credit) it “cannot be retroactive to before the date of the new guidance”.

“There is still this window over the next 45 days or so where the industry can even get out ahead of whatever new guidance is coming from the IRS. It’s not a guarantee, but there’s pretty solid legal precedence,” concluded Hall.

He adds that this is not only for companies to try and secure the safe harbour requisite for the investment tax credit (ITC) but also in order to achieve safe harbour ahead of the foreign entity entities of concern (FEOC) requirements. These FEOC restrictions will be enforced to limit the ability to avail of production tax credit (PTC) and ITC incentives if material assistance from prohibited foreign entities exceeds certain thresholds.

“There could be even more reason to buy the modules and get out ahead of that,” said Hall.

On the prospects of equipment becoming scarce as the market rushes to secure tax credits for projects, Hall said:

“A scarcity could emerge, but there is still availability right now. It’s true that there’s both a rush and there’s inventory and a broad oversupply in the market. So, customers are still able to make safe harbour purchases today. That might get more difficult, but right now, there’s still availability.”

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.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth 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 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

July 11, 2025
Renewable electricity generation has grown more than twice as fast as total global electricity generation since 2012, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
July 11, 2025
The Asia Pacific (APAC) region has accounted for 69% of the 589GW solar PV inverters shipped in 2024, according to a report from analyst Wood Mackenzie.
July 10, 2025
US renewables developer Invenergy has launched commercial operations of 250MW Fairbanks Solar Energy Center in Sullivan County, Indiana. 
July 10, 2025
A report published by the US Department of Energy (DOE) this week claims that the previous government’s support for renewable energy could cause blackouts to “increase by 100 times” by 2030.
July 10, 2025
UbiQD has signed a supply agreement with First Solar to supply its fluorescent quantum dot technology for use in the latter’s PV panels.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 22, 2025
Bilbao, Spain
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK