Coronavirus-induced supply-chain breakdowns in China have caused the developers of two large solar-power projects in Wisconsin to declare force majeure, threatening construction delays. And some Minnesota solar companies are wary that manufacturing bottlenecks could soon hurt them, too.<
“I’m definitely concerned about it because a lot of solar-project components come from Asia,” said David Amster-Olszewski, CEO of Denver-based SunShare, which is a significant developer of community solar projects in Minnesota. And delays aren’t the only problem.
“Any interruption impacts pricing for the whole supply chain,” he said.
Asia, and particularly China, is the globe’s primary supplier of solar cells and panels, and is also a major source of inverters and racking system components. Racks hold solar panels in place; inverters convert panels’ DC current into AC.