US sets a $0.38/W price floor on imported solar modules
From 4 December 2026 the US applies a $0.38/W minimum import price on solar modules, $0.22/W on cells and a 15% tariff. Analysts see PPA rates rising $4-5/MWh.
The Section 232 solar module price floor is now law. A proclamation signed on 6 August 2026 sets a minimum import price of USD 0.38 per watt for solar modules and USD 0.22 per watt for solar cells entering the United States, plus a 15% ad valorem tariff on covered polysilicon derivatives. It applies from 12:01 a.m. ET on 4 December 2026.
What exactly was set, and at what level
| Product | Minimum import price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Polysilicon | USD 21 per kg | White House proclamation, via pv magazine USA |
| Polysilicon ingots and wafers | USD 100 per kg | White House proclamation, via pv magazine USA |
| Solar cells | USD 0.22 per watt | White House proclamation, via pv magazine USA |
| Solar modules | USD 0.38 per watt | White House proclamation, via pv magazine USA |
| Ad valorem tariff | 15% on covered derivatives | pv magazine USA, 7 Aug 2026 |
| Effective date | 12:01 a.m. ET, 4 December 2026 | pv magazine USA / Wiley |
| Onshoring construction deadline | Projects must start construction by 20 January 2029 to qualify | pv magazine USA, 7 Aug 2026 |
The legal basis is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, after the Secretary of Commerce found that the quantities and circumstances of polysilicon imports threaten to impair US national security. The proclamation also lets the US Trade Representative negotiate arrangements with individual trading partners that alter how the tariffs and floors apply.
What it does to project economics inside the US
Roth Capital Partners modelled three supply chain configurations, and every one of them gets more expensive. Directly imported finished modules move from roughly USD 0.24/W before the action to USD 0.38/W, a USD 0.14/W premium. US module assemblers importing cells land at about USD 0.40/W, made up of a USD 0.22/W cell cost and USD 0.18/W of domestic assembly, an increase of USD 0.11/W. Producers importing both wafers and cells reach about USD 0.48/W.
The downstream number is the one that matters: Roth estimates the average USD 0.10/W module price increase requires power purchase agreement rates to rise by USD 4 to USD 5 per MWh to offset the extra capital expenditure. That is how a customs measure becomes an electricity price.
A separate emergency executive order issued on 27 August 2026 bans the acquisition, importation, transfer or installation of foreign-produced transformers, inverters and circuit breakers from designated countries for the US power grid, according to a legal analysis by Norton Rose Fulbright reported by pv magazine USA. Modules were the headline; the power electronics rule may bite harder, because inverter supply is more concentrated than module supply.
Who welcomed it and who is warning about it
Manufacturers with US factories backed the move. First Solar CEO Mark Widmar called it one of the most strategically significant trade measures in decades. Hanwha Qcells, which is building one of the largest US solar manufacturing facilities in Georgia, said the decision supports the billions invested and thousands of jobs created. T1 Energy, building a USD 510 million, 2.1 GW cell fab in Rockdale, Texas that expects first cells in early 2027, called it a decisive win.
Anza president Aaron Hall was more measured, and more specific: developers face higher equipment costs, many will be pushed toward domestic PERC product because there are not enough domestic TOPCon options available today, and some projects will no longer pencil. His view is that the biggest structural consequence is in wafers, not modules, and that domestic wafer production just became dramatically more valuable.
What this means for a buyer in the UAE
You are not paying this tariff. No part of the measure applies to modules landing in Jebel Ali. But three second-order effects are worth tracking.
- Trade diversion works in your favour, mildly. Modules priced out of the US have to be sold somewhere. Historically that has meant more supply, not less, in markets outside the affected corridor. It does not guarantee cheaper panels in Dubai, but it removes one source of upward pressure.
- Product mix, not just price. If US demand shifts toward domestic PERC because domestic TOPCon is scarce, high-efficiency n-type output looks for buyers elsewhere. For a Gulf roof, where temperature coefficient and degradation decide real yield, that is a better outcome than a discount on obsolete product.
- Inverters deserve more attention than modules. The 27 August grid-equipment order is a reminder that power electronics supply chains are politically exposed. Ask a contractor to name the inverter model and confirm it appears on DEWA's eligible equipment list before you sign, and check what the model actually is. Availability, not headline price, is what delays projects.
None of this changes the arithmetic of a UAE rooftop, which is set by consumption, roof area and the local cost of installed capacity. It changes the weather around that arithmetic.
Sources: pv magazine USA — Trump signs Section 232 tariffs, placing minimum import price on polysilicon imports (7 August 2026), White House — fact sheet on tariffs on polysilicon and its derivatives, Wiley — Section 232 tariffs and minimum import prices, effective 4 December 2026, pv magazine USA — Executive order bans foreign-produced transformers, inverters and circuit breakers (27 August 2026).