Last month, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA, a comprehensive budget reconciliation bill that aims to lengthen major provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed during President Donald Trump’s first presidency, currently set to expire by the end of this year. Earlier this week, the Republican-led Senate Finance Committee introduced its version of the bill. Among several provisions intending to reduce the federal government’s deficit, the bill would majorly scale back clean energy tax credits instituted by the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022.
In doing so, the OBBBA would terminate the IRA’s Domestic Content Bonus Credit, which provides an additional 10% refund for clean energy projects that use American-made technology. Over the last three years, this IRA tax credit has boosted American manufacturing, created thousands of jobs here in the United States, and strengthened our domestic energy supply chain.
As our Senators from both sides of the aisle consider the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, those who believe in American economic growth and individual liberty should champion reversing course from the bill introduced by the Senate Finance Committee and keeping the IRA’s clean energy tax credits. The Domestic Content Bonus Credit in particular advances Republican values while enhancing America’s standing in the international energy market. This America-first, market-based policy generates American economic competition and innovation, while giving middle-class homeowners greater choice over their energy systems.
Rather than hurting the business of crucial American companies like Tandem PV, Republicans should champion clean energy because it aligns with core conservative principles.
Most new energy contributing to the American electricity grid is clean—including solar and wind—because of how cheap, fast, and naturally abundant these sources are. Indeed, in 2024 alone, 95% of new capacity to the American electricity grid came from clean energy. Because of this reality, the OBBBA’s impacts on federal clean energy incentives would reduce overall energy additions to the American electricity grid by about half by 2035, undermining American energy growth.
Meanwhile, China continues to maintain a near monopoly over solar energy technology, possessing an over 80% share of the international marketplace and currently on a growth trajectory. In 2023 alone, China installed more solar panels than America has over the course of its history and saw its solar panel exports increase by 38%. How did China come to lead the global solar energy technology market? In part, through government subsidies, including cheaper land for solar panel factories and low-interest loans to solar panel companies to expand these critical, nascent industries and spur their success. It is clear from a comparative perspective that the Domestic Content Bonus Credit is essential to strengthening American global energy leadership: In a market that China dominates, this tax credit helps American solar energy technology manufacturers compete.
I spoke to Scott Wharton, CEO of Tandem PV, an American solar energy technology company focusing on groundbreaking tandem perovskite solar panels, about 30% more efficient and powerful than the typical solar panel. With a perovskite layer 200 times thinner than silicon, the production of tandem perovskite solar panels requires only 10% of the energy needed to make conventional panels—a true testimony to American ingenuity. While in 2022 about 88% of U.S. solar panel shipments industry-wide were imports, primarily from Asia, Tandem PV announced plans in 2025 to construct a commercial-scale tandem perovskite solar panel manufacturing facility in the United States. Scott’s plans will increase American energy independence, growth, and innovation, enabling us to harness the abundant power of the Sun to power our future prosperity.
Scott said that Congress’s intention to scrap the Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits would hurt his business, as American-made tandem perovskite solar energy technology would become less financially attractive to investors looking to support new capacity to the electrical grid. Given that the U.S. has developed the most advanced tandem perovskite technology globally, the current version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would adversely impact innovation, jobs, and growth in an emerging American industry. Moreover, Scott emphasized that the bill would undermine individual homeowners’ choice and liberty over their energy systems, as it would reduce their ability to own their energy production and increase their reliance on the greater energy grid.
It’s easy to get caught up in a game of partisan politics that puts emotional loyalty to party over rational best of interest of our country. When we really look underneath the surface, it’s clear that saving the Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits, including the Domestic Content Bonus Credit, would advance Republicans’ own goals: long-term American economic and energy growth and international competitiveness through market-based solutions that promote innovation, create American jobs, and increase individual liberty. Rather than hurting the business of crucial American companies like Tandem PV, Republicans should champion clean energy because it aligns with core conservative principles. Let’s keep our clean energy tax credits—for America’s families, businesses, and future.
