Title of Dissertation: national renewable energy policy

Table 13. 
Number of statement per actor group by issue category. 
Chinese solar
panels benefit 
US Economy 
Chinese solar 
panels benefit 
the 
affordability of 
solar energy 
The trade 
practices of 
Chinese solar 
panels are fair 
The tariff on 
Chinese 
solar panels 
is necessary 
Total 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 
Yes No Yes No
US 
State 
9 
1 
18 
1 
1 
30 
Panel 
Manufacturer 
5 
1 
2 
3 
11 
Solar 
corporation 
other than 
panel 
manufacturer 
6 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
8 
19 
Industry 
Association 
4 
2 
2 
2 
4 
9 
23 
Expert 
2 
6 
3 
1 
6 
3 
21 
China 
State 
5 
9 
6 
11 
31 
Panel 
Manufacturer 
6 
3 
11 
9 
29 
Solar 
corporation 
other than 
panel 
manufacturer 
1 
1 
Industry 
Association 
2 
2 
3 
6 
13 
Expert 
1 
1 
Other 
State 
1 
1 
2 
Panel 
Manufacturer 
1 
14 
2 
1 
25 
5 
2 
50 
Total 
26 
37 
23 
2 
24 
57 
10 
52 
52 
Overall, the positions of the four groups—U.S. state actors, U.S. panel 
manufacturers, panel manufacturers in other countries, and U.S. experts—tend to be 
different from the positions of the other actors. These groups agree neither that Chinese 
solar panels benefit U.S. economy nor that the trade practices of Chinese solar panels are 
fair. The rest of the groups including U.S. solar corporations other than panel 

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manufacturers and U.S. industry associations tend to agree on both statements. This 
shows that the home country of an organization may have no correlation with its position 
on Chinese solar panels.
Actor congruence network supports that the home country of an organization is 
not associated with the position of the organization on Chinese solar panels. In the actor 
congruence network, two coalitions are apparent (Figure 19). The coalition in the left can 
be named as “anti-Chinese solar panel group,” which argues the harms of Chinese solar 
panels. They argue that Chinese solar panels have no benefit to the U.S. economy and 
that the trade practices concerning the Chinese panels are questionable. SolarWorld, the 
biggest black square, is a dominant actor in this coalition. Although this coalition mostly 
consists of the U.S. actors, it is led by a Germany-based corporation. On the other hand, 
the other coalition to the right includes diverse actors from the U.S. and China. This 
coalition can be named as the “pro-Chinese solar panel group,” which argues for the 
benefits of Chinese solar panels. State actors in China and Chinese solar panel 
manufacturers lead the coalition, but a number of the actors in the U.S. are included in 
this coalition. One of the main actors in the coalition is the Coalition for Affordable Solar 
Energy (CASE), which is an industry group based in the United States. CASE was 
established to fight against SolarWorld’s petition. Its members include both U.S. solar 
installers and Chinese solar panel manufacturers. Other than the CASE, a number of U.S. 
solar installers are included in the pro-Chinese solar panel group. 

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