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In the “this was news a decade ago” category, T1 Energy CEO Dan Barcelo is hammering home a key point for the US solar power industry. The solar industry has one big problem in the United States compared to other major markets — permitting. With cuts in subsidies and net metering in the country, this is just getting that much more important.
“The ongoing permitting challenge is a key factor slowing down solar manufacturing and deployment in the US, according to T1 Energy’s CEO, Dan Barcelo,” PV-Tech writes following an interview with Barcelo. “Barcelo said permitting regulation needs to be reformed at both the upstream and downstream levels to enable the solar PV industry to navigate a post-tax-credit world.”
From raw material mining, to raw material processing, to project installations, to grid interconnections, solar power is far too hampered in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The issue is: this has been a major problem for many years, a well known problem, and little progress has been made. So, how much hope is there? But the way to create change is with strong, clear, incessant messaging, so Barcelo is doing exactly what’s needed. All across the solar industry, this point should be hammered home on a daily basis. Blue collar workers should be making this point while grabbing lunch at Subway. Executives should be making this point to key financial partners. Lobbyists should be talking about this in private meetings, at Starbucks in DC, in state government offices, on social media, and, yes, even at Mar-a-Lago (whether the president is awake or asleep — subconscious messages imparted on people while they sleep can actually be quite powerful).
