India's Solar Module Exports Jump After U.S. Crackdown On Chinese Manufacturers

India has seen a considerable increase in exports of solar modules following the Biden administration’s ban on such modules suspected of being produced using forced labor in China.

According to a report in the Times of India, solar module exports during the third quarter of the year totaled $157 million, up from just $21 million a year earlier and $26 million during the second quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, domestic growth in solar power adoption is also rising. In the first nine months of the year, Indian solar developers installed a record 10 GW of solar generating capacity.

This represented a 35-percent annual increase, with utility-scale installations accounting for 9 GW, which was a 45-percent annual increase. The solar capacity additions also represented 76 percent of all new power generation capacity additions in the first nine months of 2022.

In the United States, meanwhile, new solar installations are expected to have declined by 23 percent this year because of the ban on Chinese modules. The figure came from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, which also said they expected utility-scale installation additions this year to shrink by 40 percent as a result of the ban.

Residential solar additions will rise by a sizeable 37 percent but they are a small part of the U.S. solar power market, where utility-scale projects dominate the landscape.

According to Reuters, there are more than 1,000 cargoes of solar power equipment sitting at U.S. ports after the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act was passed in June. This has led exporters to suspend shipments to the U.S. for fear they, too, could end up detained under the new legislation.

Meanwhile, Indian solar exporters have stepped up exports to the U.S. to replace the Chinese modules. An Indian industry executive told local media earlier this month India was the most logical alternative to China in solar modules as it was the second-largest producer.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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