Both companies say they would have moved ahead even without direct federal funding. Rick Luebbe, the chief executive of Group14, said the company was able to raise additional capital on the back of the federal money, allowing it to build two production lines in Moses Lake rather than one. In 2005, for example, the government introduced tax credits for the installation of solar panels, without restrictions on the country of origin. Over the next six years, imports of Chinese solar panels increased to $2.7 billion a year, up from $21 million a year. China controls three-quarters of the world’s supply of graphite, but “our technology requires sand and energy,” said Gene Berdichevsky, the chief executive of Sila.

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Persons: Rick Luebbe, Moses Lake, ”, Moses, It’s, Biden, Gene Berdichevsky, Sila Locations: Moses Lake, Georgia , Louisiana, Tennessee, United States, China