Hanwha Solar Investment Too Blinding?

WSJ says South Korea’s Hanwha is to make a $2.5B solar investment in new US digs? Great news or another example of how foreign companies take advantage of US tax incentives to enrich selves that may or may not do some good here, but definitely at taxpayers’ expense? Let's see ...

The newspaper account says “Hanwha Group’s Qcells plan is the latest example of a rush of money spurred by tax incentives.” OK. But, isn’t the idea behind any tax incentive to trigger “win-win” deals? Hanwha, we’re told, is going “to build an entire solar-manufacturing supply chain in Georgia, the biggest solar investment spurred so far by the massive tax incentives the US introduced last year … The investment would allow the conglomerate’s Qcells unit to build new facilities in the Atlanta region that would manufacture 3.3 gigawatts of solar panels a year, enough to supply around 18% of the estimated US demand in 2022.” Ok again. But, before we let our breath be taken away, do we know if this supply chain includes US providers or mostly South Korean (think how some foreign car companies have “built” cars in America with parts from you know which parts)?

Assures the company, Qcells would also produce ON-SITE “nearly all” the main components that go into the panels, including solar cells, ingots and wafers – items not currently manufactured in the US. Might that cautionary “nearly all” be a red flag? Not that foreign investment in America is invariably a bad thing or can’t be a win-win proposition as it sort of appears to be the case here. It’s just that deals that seem too sweet to be believed might be “trusted but verified”?

Davd Soul