At this century-old farm just outdoors Durham, symmetrical rows of shining blue solar panels have replaced the soybeans and tobacco that Tommy Vinson and his family utilised to develop here. It’s one of several solar farms which have sprung up around North Carolina, transforming a state long battered by global offshoring into the second-largest generator of solar electrical energy following California.
“It’s nevertheless reaping an extremely very good harvest,” stated April Vinson, who’s married to Tommy. “It’s just not a traditional sort of farm.” Across North Carolina, textile factories and tobacco farms have disappeared, giving strategy to fields of solar panels.
But for all those venturing into solar farming like Mr. Vinson, the future of this vibrant sector is now cloudy. On Monday, the Trump administration announced that it would impose steep tariffs on imported solar panels, which could raise the cost of solar energy within the years ahead, slowing adoption in the technologies and costing jobs.