A Section 232 proclamation signed in August 2026 takes effect on December 4, 2026, and it will raise the cost of imported solar modules. Here is the short version of what it means if you are collecting quotes right now.
What Is Changing
Two measures apply to imported polysilicon-derived components — ingots, wafers, cells and finished panels — regardless of which country they come from:
- A 15% tariff.
- Minimum import prices, including a floor of $0.38 per watt on solar modules and $0.22 per watt on cells.
Both take effect December 4, 2026.
The Floor Matters More Than the Tariff
A 15% duty is a manageable increase. A price floor is a harder instrument — imported product cannot enter below it at any cost of manufacture.
Recent reporting has placed imported module pricing well beneath the new $0.38 per watt floor, with some assembled panels trading at roughly a third of it. For that product, the floor rather than the 15% sets the new price. The cheapest imports are affected most. Modules already priced near the floor are affected least, and domestically assembled product is not subject to the import measures at all.
What It Does to a Project Budget
Modules are a meaningful share of a commercial solar system, but racking, inverters, conductors, switchgear, engineering, permitting, interconnection and labor are not affected by this action.
So: module pricing rises, total project cost follows by less, and the size of the effect depends on what a given design specifies.
We are not going to print a percentage. Module markets move and any figure we published would be stale quickly. What we will do is price your project at current cost and tell you plainly what the equipment costs when we quote it.
If You Are Getting Quotes Now
Two practical points.
Ask what the quote assumes about equipment pricing and how long it holds. A proposal written today for installation next summer is making an assumption about module cost. It is fair to ask what that assumption is.
Note that the other clock is running too. Projects that did not begin construction by July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by December 31, 2027 to qualify for the federal Investment Tax Credit. Both timelines reward moving deliberately rather than waiting to see what happens.
Consult your tax professional regarding your eligibility.
The Part That Does Not Change
Tariffs are not a reason to install solar and they are not a reason to skip it. A right-sized commercial system earns its return by retiring a portion of your electric bill every month for twenty-five years. A modest shift in module pricing does not overturn that arithmetic.
It is worth noting that a right-sized array buys fewer modules in the first place — which makes it the design least exposed to module pricing of any on the table.
Request a free consultation for current pricing on your facility.