US Senators Ossof and Warnock urge Biden administration to lift bifacial solar module exemption

March 27, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
In a letter to the US president, senators Jon Ossof and Reverend Raphael Warnock said bifacial modules account for nearly 90% of PV module imports. Image: Image: Pixabay.

US Senators Jon Ossof and Reverend Raphael Warnock have urged the Biden administration to support the domestic solar manufacturing industry by lifting an ongoing tariff exemption on bifacial modules.

In a letter written to US President Joe Biden, the senators urged Biden to remove the exemption for bifacial modules, which account for nearly 90% of PV module imports. “Removing this exemption would alleviate pricing pressure and bolster the growth of an important US industry,” reads the letter.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Earlier this month, the two senators pressed the Biden Administration to take action and eliminate the tariff exemption for bifacial modules under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 in order to increase the competitive advantage of US-made bifacial module manufacturers. The senators highlighted a recent report from the US International Trade Commission, which determined that US imports of bifacial modules doubled between 2020 and 2022.

This follows demands from four US senators – including Ossof and Warnock along with Sherrod Brown and Marco Rubio – to increase tariffs on Chinese-made PV modules, cells and wafer imports.

Strengthen domestic supply chain of solar PV components

The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition called for a “strengthening [of] the domestic supply chain to produce solar components” last week, after publishing a report into the US’ reliance on Chinese-made modules. The report highlighted supply gaps in domestic production of modules, wafers and cells. The issue was also highlighted in a guest article for PV Tech last December by advisory body, Clean Energy Associates, in which it wrote that the US was facing an imbalance of domestic module capacity versus cells.

“The solar manufacturing industry is at a crucial turning point, spurred by incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. During the final two years of the 201 tariffs, it is essential that their implementation supports the growing US solar manufacturing industry, which is critical to our nation’s energy security and energy independence from China,” Ossoff and Warnock wrote. “In Georgia, companies have already invested over $2.98 billion in solar manufacturing, projecting thousands of new clean energy jobs to our states.”

This latest request from senators Ossof and Warnock echoes recent comments from cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar manufacturer First Solar’s CEO, Mark Widmar, ina US Senate Finance Committee. Widmar said that the US solar manufacturing industry “remains in a precarious position, despite the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)”.

The full letter from US senators Ossof and Warnock to US President Joe Biden can be read here.

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

October 27, 2025
Engie has signed additional PPAs with Meta, expanding their partnership to more than 1.3GW across four solar projects in Texas.
October 27, 2025
Waaree Energies has secured four solar module supply contracts totalling 692MW – three for projects in India and one in the US through its subsidiary.
October 27, 2025
US solar technology company Swift Solar has deployed perovskite solar technology as part of a Department of Defence cyber warfare exercise in the state of Virginia.
October 23, 2025
US solar manufacturer T1 Energy sold approximately 725MW of solar modules in Q3 2025, as it continues to expand US manufacturing capabilities.
October 22, 2025
Recurrent Energy, Ampliform and Dimension Energy have announced new financing rounds this month for US solar projects.
October 22, 2025
Leeward Renewable Energy has started commercial operations at its 177MW Ridgely solar project in the US state of Tennessee.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany