Tariffs Fail to Charge Confidence in Battery Prices
Recent tariff actions by the Trump administration have caused a sharp increase in battery prices according to the Q2 storage pricing insights report from ANSA, a solar and storage company.
This battery price spike is the sharpest single jump in battery energy storage prices since 2021, including the time period of the post-pandemic supply chain disruptions.
As of 2024, China currently accounts for approximately 60 percent of the world's lithium ion battery exports that are used in electric vehicles, as well as stationary battery storage systems.
In 2018, the first Trump administration imposed tariffs on batteries from China, In January of 2020, those tariffs on lithium ion batteries rose from 7.5 percent to 15 percent. In May of 2024, they increased to 25 percent.
April of this year, Trump announced a 125 percent additional tariff on products from China, which raised the tariff on batteries imported from that nation to about 150 percent.
This action effectively froze battery exports to the United States.
Arbitarily in May, the Trump administration reversed its position, lowering the additional tariffs to 30 percent, effectively resulting in a 55 percent tariff on Chinese batteries.
Despite the rollback and because of continued uncertainty of future tariff actions, suppliers continue to protect their margin through contract contingency clauses.
As a result, both the prices for AC and DC storage systems have increased 68 percent in the first half of this year.
The “Act” Called the Big Beautiful Bill
The Senate reconvenes this week and begins budget negotiations. The Solar Energy Industries Administration (SEIA), is lobbying to revise the steep Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) cuts passed by the House of Representatives, citing that these projected cuts will result in job losses within all 50 states.
In an analysis released last Tuesday, SEIA estimated that Texas and California would be hit hardest by the House's bill rollback of the IRA credits, respectively losing 34,100 and 35,700 solar and storage jobs by 2030.
Florida respectively is anticipating a 21,800 job loss if the bill is passed in the Senate.
A report issued last week by E2 found that businesses have already cancelled or delayed more than $14 billion in investments and 10,000 new jobs in clean energy and clean vehicle factories since January.
Republican congressional districts have been experiencing most of the renewable energy project cancellations. More than 13,000 jobs and over $12 billion in clean energy projects have been cancelled so far this year in Republican districts.
The Senate is set to start budget hearings this Tuesday. The Trump administration stated that they hope to finalize the budget by July 4.
Solar Firms Dimmed by Chapter 11 Filings
Residential Solar and Storage provider Sunnova recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Sunnova Is the second national residential solar company to file for bankruptcy this month. The Houston based company struggles to cope with high interest rates, incentive cuts and fears of subsidy rollbacks at the national level. Sunnova revealed in SEC documents that it laid off 718 employees or approximately 55 percent of its workforce on May 30th.
Mosaic residential home and solar home and improvement financing platform has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Mosaic offers homeowners financing options for solar storage and other sustainable home improvements. The company has a network of contract partners as well as financial offerings.
Mosaic again blamed macro economic challenges facing the entire residential industry including high interest rates and unsupportive legislation at the federal level, which has impacted its access to capital.
UK Renewable Generation Grows
While storm clouds may be threatening the solar industry in the United States, solar farms and rooftops in the United Kingdom generated a record 42 percent more electricity from January through May of 2025 than during the same time period last year.
The increase is the result of more solar capacity installed in recent years, but most of the additional generation can be attributed to the fact that the UK has just had its sunniest spring since record keeping began in 1910.
Between March 1st and May 31st of this year, the UK had 653 hours of sunshine. That's 43 percent higher than average for this period during the period of 1961 to 1990.
Sunshine hours in the UK have been increasing, especially since the 1980s, as spring months and averaged 15 percent sunnier for each of the past 10 years.
