Utah's solar industry shines bright despite rising costs, trade challenges - KUTV 2News

Utah's solar industry shines bright despite rising costs, trade challenges

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Experts predict a sunny forecast for the solar industry in Utah, but changes to international trade could make capturing that sunlight more expensive.

While the solar industry is growing quickly across the nation, Utah is among the fastest.

It is currently a $4 billion industry in the state that is expected to get much bigger.

According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, in 2023, Utah ranked 32nd in the nation for solar energy capacity and is now 14th.

The amount of solar power produced in the state is expected to grow by 150% within the next five years.

China builds 80% of the world's solar panels.

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In mid May, the Biden administration announced it would double tariffs on solar cells made in China from 25% to 50%.

The SEIA said prices in the U.S. for solar are about 42% to 57% higher than the rest of the world.

Despite that the president of the SEIA said they don't expect the tariffs to increase prices in the U.S. dramatically and suggested this could motivate more solar cell factories to start-up.

"Trade issues continue to challenge us," said SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. "The exciting news, actually, is that in the last 18 months or so, about 60 manufacturers have announced plans to either build or grow their manufacturing capacity in the United States. So we’re really reshoring a lot of that capacity we lost to other countries.”

According to the SEIA, there are currently 72,512 solar installations in Utah. The solar industry supports the careers of 7,300 Utahns and has invested $4.3 billion into the state’s economy. There is enough solar installed in Utah to power 510,000 homes each year.

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