Solar photovoltaics will no longer qualify under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act (DPA), with President Donald Trump rescinding an order of the previous administration that had designated these technologies as elements of national security.

In an executive order published in the Federal Register, Trump canceled his predecessor, Joe Biden’s presidential determination of June 2022, including solar modules and their components from the DPA’s purview.

Biden’s invoking the DPA was intended to expand the domestic production capability for solar photovoltaic modules and module components with funding under the Inflation Reduction Act. The inclusion in the DPA was felt necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.

The inclusion of solar technologies in the DPA, with the necessary funding appropriated by Congress, was meant to allow the federal government to invest in companies that can build clean energy facilities, expand clean energy manufacturing, process clean energy components, and install clean energy technologies for consumers.

Electrolyzers, fuel cells, and platinum group metals were also included in the 2022 DPA announcement.

Trump signed another executive order using the DPA to increase domestic production of critical minerals, including uranium, copper, potash, and gold.

Immediately after assuming office as the U.S. president in January, Trump issued a raft of executive orders seeking to reverse the Biden administration’s clean energy agenda. One order directed federal agencies to immediately pause funds disbursement through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

However, Trump’s actions seeking to reverse support for renewable energy production have caused discomfort within his Republican Party. Earlier this month, a coalition of 21 Republican lawmakers urged the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means to safeguard clean energy tax credits enacted under the previous administration to protect private sector investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure.

They highlighted the necessity of continued energy expansion and innovation to bolster national security and secure energy independence.

The Solar Energy Industries Association said in February that solar module manufacturing capacity grew five-fold since federal energy policies, such as IRA, were passed to reach 50 GW. It claimed these policies allowed the U.S. to become the world’s third-largest solar module producer.