Small Businesses Powering the Clean Energy Economy — Field Hearing, Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, May 9, 2025

Summary

Written testimony by the President of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE) for a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses Powering the Clean Energy Economy, held Friday, May 9, 2025 in Boston and addressed to Ranking Member Markey. The testimony states that most SEBANE members are small businesses and that their progress has been driven by the 48E and 25D investment tax credits under the IRA. It warns that repealing those provisions, combined with tariffs, would harm project viability, and reports that some installers have raised prices by more than 20%. It contrasts earlier incentives for domestic content in solar manufacturing with the tariffs being implemented in 2025, and states that SEBANE members oppose reductions in tax credits.

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         SENATE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
                                          Field Hearing:
                   Small Businesses Powering the Clean Energy Economy
                        Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology
                              41 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116

                                       Friday, May 9, 2025

                                          Testimony of:
                                      Nick d’Arbelo.
          President, Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE)
                                      Randolph, MA



Ranking Member Markey and Members of the Senate Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, thank you for this opportunity to testify today. My name is Nick
d’Arbelo., and I serve as President of SEBANE, the Solar Energy Business Association of
New England.

Before I begin, I would like to express my thanks to you, Senator Markey, for all that you do
and all that you have done to support clean energy in Massachusetts and nationwide. Your
tireless e.orts to advance legislation that helps clean energy businesses gain a foothold
and grow has been critical to the success of the Massachusetts clean energy economy.
Back in 2008, when I served as the founding president of the New England Clean Energy
Council (now the Alliance for Climate Transition, or ACT), I remember well the support you
o.ered our fledgling organization. I am deeply grateful for your dedication to the clean
energy cause.

The mission of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England is to protect and
promote the New England solar industry through informed policy intervention, coalition
building, and stakeholder education. Our members include residential installers;
commercial developers; systems integrators; solar component manufacturers; and service
providers. The vast majority of our members are small businesses, and all of them have
been significantly impacted by the erratic changes in policy over the last few months.

SEBANE members work diligently each day to deploy clean energy resources throughout
our region. Domestic energy production is vital to achieving energy independence, and
much of our progress has been driven by the incentives provided under the IRA—
particularly the 48E and 25D investment tax credits. These clean energy tax credits have a
long-standing history of bipartisan support, and their extension under the IRA o.ered the



SEBANE Testimony                                1                                  May 9, 2025
regulatory certainty that businesses like ours depend on to plan, hire, and invest. Repealing
these provisions—especially when paired with the volatility caused by proposed tari.s—
would deal a significant financial blow to project viability and thus to our businesses,
jeopardizing thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in private investment that power our
regional economy.

Many of our small business member companies—including some that have been operating
for more than 20 years—have expressed serious concerns about the potential rollback of
the Inflation Reduction Act. Several have indicated they will be forced to significantly
reduce their workforce or close their doors entirely if these changes move forward.
Investors are increasingly hesitant to finance projects due to uncertainties surrounding tax
credits, grants, and tari.s, all of which are now being factored into both the cost of capital
and asset valuations. As a result, projects are being halted mid-development. Installers are
raising their prices significantly—some by more than 20%—just to stay afloat. Several
members have warned that the imposition of tari.s could e.ectively shut down the battery
storage sector altogether.

While SEBANE has worked successfully with the Healey administration to advance policies
that reduce barriers and open new markets for solar, the combined impact of IRA rollbacks
and tari.s would be devastating for many of our small business members. Moreover,
SEBANE itself—operating as a nonprofit funded entirely through member dues and
educational event revenue—may not withstand the financial strain that such cuts would
impose across our membership base.

Tari.s are not new to the solar industry. We saw tari.s introduced in 2012, when it was
believed that the Chinese were dumping panels in the United States below their cost to
manufacture. In 2018, several new tari.s were added; these were then extended in 2022.
Multiple administrations have levied tari.s, kept them in place and/or extended them. At
this moment in time, what is most concerning is the unpredictability of the tari.s being
implemented. Any business, small or large, seeks to understand and account for all of the
variables that may adversely impact its operations. If a business knows that a component
is going to cost more in the years ahead, they can plan for it. What makes planning much
more challenging is a situation where it is di.icult—if not impossible—to understand or
even estimate what a component will cost. This is the very situation that solar companies
find themselves in today.

The Biden administration placed an emphasis on the domestic manufacturing of solar
components. The policy was implemented in a logical fashion; as a result, major
manufacturers began building assembly plants here in the United States. Hanwha opened
plants in Dalton and Cartersville, Georgia; Silfab opened plants in Burlington, Washington


SEBANE Testimony                              2                                    May 9, 2025
and Fort Mill, South Carolina; JA in Phoenix, Arizona; Jinko in Jacksonville, Florida. It is
important to note that the policy leaned on carrots, rather than sticks: if a solar project
used components with high domestic content, it was eligible for higher tax credits. This
incentive drove the market and ultimately drove manufacturers to invest in US operations.

Currently, these manufacturing plants are not building solar panels from the ground up.
They are still primarily assembly plants; they receive sub-components from around the
globe, and the finished product is assembled in the US. This represents a huge step
forward in increasing the domestic content of panels installed in the United States—but it’s
worth noting that a panel with every single sub-component made in the US is mostly
aspirational; it is not realistic given today’s global supply chains. The previous policy took
this into account.

The tari.s being implemented in 2025 are all sticks and no carrots. In fact, many of the
financial incentives that the industry had started to leverage have been swept o. the table.
It is possible the courts may bring some of these incentives and grant monies back; it is
also very possible that they will not. It is also possible that Congress will reduce tax credits
in the coming months—something SEBANE members strongly oppose. With all sub-
components now facing a range of di.erent punitive tari.s, the industry has gone from the
possibility of bonus incentives with prices remaining relatively stable to a situation where
there are now no bonus incentives and prices are starting to fluctuate wildly. This rapidly
changing landscape creates significant instability.

The solar industry, both in Massachusetts and across the nation, is quite accustomed to
policy-driven ups and downs; after all – that is why it is so commonly referred to by insiders
as “the solar coaster.” We have weathered many storms, and it is my expectation that the
industry will weather this storm as well. And it is critical that we do so, since solar remains
one of the most powerful tools available for combatting climate change. Solar not only
increases our nation’s energy independence and enhances grid resiliency, it also o.ers a
reliable, a.ordable source of electricity that moves us away from the dangers of fossil
fuels.

Senator Markey, as you well know, the battle to prevent climate catastrophe is not going
particularly well. That said, giving up the fight is not an option. SEBANE’s members, along
with solar companies across the country, will continue doing what we do, both as small
businesses seeking to grow and prosper, and as a group of dedicated professionals intent
on helping civilization avoid the very worst impacts of climate change.

Thank you for your time today.




SEBANE Testimony                               3                                      May 9, 2025


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