France’s Solar Suppliers Urge Industry Consolidation

Schneider Electric SA (SU), Mersen (MRN) and Air Liquide SA (AI), which sell electrical equipment, graphite and gases to solar-panel makers, said the photovoltaic industry must consolidate to rebound from a price war.
“We are going through a cleaning up of the market,” Schneider Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Babeau said on a conference call today as he commented on declining sales to the solar industry. “There are too many players,” and the market will rebound as PV power prices become competitive “quicker than some could expect.”
“Chinese cell-producers have financial difficulties, they are restructuring,” and waiting for European anti-dumping measures following U.S. measures, Thomas Baumgartner, chief financial officer of Mersen, said yesterday. “Chinese cell makers should maybe consolidate to enable a quick pickup.”
About 180 solar manufacturers will probably fail or get bought by 2015 as overcapacity and low prices drive a wave of consolidation, GTM Research said this month. Almost half of those companies are based in the U.S., Europe and Canada, where manufacturing costs are high and producers can’t compete with lower-cost panels from China, the Boston-based researcher said.
“Our top tier Chinese customers should continue to do well” as they face “very fast” growing demand for panels, Air Liquide Senior Executive Vice-President Pierre Dufour said on a conference call today. “In every zone of the world, the lower tier customers will be struggling and a lot of them will probably be consolidated out or fade away.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-25/france-s-solar-suppliers-urge-industry-consolidation.html

Austin Explores Solar Industry

Those living in Austin, Texas can get a inside look at the solar industry during a forum and open house hosted by ImagineSolar. On August 25, 2012 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm CDT at ImagineSolar’s training facility located at 4000 Caven Road, Austin, TX 78744, community members can see new solar products and services from various solar companies, learn about new courses (attendees are eligible for a $50 discount on one course) and tour ImagineSolar’s solar field lab. Several solar companies who are looking for local talent will be on hand at the event including Ideal Power Converters, Schletter, Greenbelt Solar, Lighthouse Solar, and more. Several solar associations will also be at the event including Texas Green Network (TGN), Renewable Energy Student Association (RESA), Texas Renewable Energy Industry Association (TREIA), and Sierra Club, Austin. Austin innovator Michael Kuhn, who is also the founder of ImagineSolar, has been active in public policy for the solar industry since the 1990s. Today he is working with other local solar entrepreneurs to develop breakthrough models for local solar development. The goal is to accelerate solar adoption in the community. Today, current capacity for non-utility-scale solar is around 6 MW and the hope is to reach 300 MW over the next 10 years. During the event, Kuhn will speak on this work and what to expect in the next several years from the Austin solar industry. “I remember when you could count on your two hands the number of people working in solar in Austin ten years ago,” said Kuhn, “Today we count over 615 people with jobs in the solar industry. We continue to endeavor to ensure that the City of Austin remains a leader for clean energy. Austin’s support for local solar is an engine for job creation.” For more information about solar opportunities in Austin, download the free eBooks “Career Opportunities in the Solar Industry” and “Career Opportunities in the Smart Grid Industry.” http://domesticfuel.com/2012/08/13/austin-explores-solar-industry/

India's fledgling solar-equipment industry under Chinese onslaught

Even as it had barely risen, the Indian solar-equipment sector has been eclipsed. S Venkataramani, who heads a grouping of 22 companies that account for 80% of India's solar-equipment capacity, counts the damages for those who make photovoltaic (PV) cells- the lifeline of a solar panel.

"Most PV makers are manufacturing at 10-15% of their optimum capacity, that too on and off, because there is no demand. Engineers are looking out for jobs in other sectors," says the general secretary of the Solar Manufacturers' Association, before launching a tirade against China for wrecking the economics of this industry globally.

It's the classic Chinese strategy: pumpprime its economy by driving exports.

Sometime in 2009, as countries took to solar power in bigger way, China provided an external charge to its solar-equipment industry. "Chinese equipment makers get free power for manufacturing, free land, incentives for exports and cheap capital," says Jagat S Jawa, director general, Solar Energy Society of India, an industry body.


According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, an independent agency that tracks renewable energy markets, Chinese banks have given at least $43 billion (Rs 2,15,000 crore) in credit facilities to renewable-energy companies.

Global capacity of PV cells, which had increased steadily from 2,500 MW in 2007 to 7,400 MW in 2009, exploded to 29,600 MW in 2011 and is expected to cross 40,000 MW this year, according to the European PV Industry Association (EPIA).

Most of this is being built in China and being exported everywhere-the US, Europe, even India. According to McKinsey, the price of PV modules fell from $4 per watt in 2008 to under $1 per watt this January.

In India, manufacturers using those modules say they can produce solar power at `8 per unit, down from `17 per unit just 18 months ago. By extension, modules or cells produced by Indian companies are out of demand, both in India and abroad.



"Chinese are 25-30% cheaper then Indian manufacturers," accepts Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/indias-fledgling-solar-equipment-industry-under-chinese-onslaught/articleshow/13831512.cms

UK solar industry shrinks by a quarter

The Government is facing the prospect of a raft of damages claims after new figures reveal the UK's solar industry has contracted by 25 per cent following the disastrous handling of cuts to the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme.

The research found more than 6,000 jobs had been lost, which according to Cut Don’t Kill campaigners "brutally unmasks the Government’s rhetoric on promoting renewable energy".

And while 92 per cent of the surveyed solar companies said they were "worried" or "very worried" about the future of the market, 72 per ent of firms said they had suffered financial loss as a result of the Government's unlawful handling of subsidy cuts last December.

The figures, released today, come as the UK hosts a Clean Energy Ministerial summit for 23 of the world’s largest economies today, which Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to speak at.

On April 1 the Coalition Government slashed the FiT rate at which homeowners are paid for generating solar power from 43.3 pence to 21 pence. Changes to the scheme were initially announced in the autumn of 2011.

And the Government is currently consulting on further reductions in July and again in October. Options for the July cut stand between 13.6 pence and 16.5 pence.

However, a survey of just under 200 UK solar businesses suggests that cuts to the tariff so far have had a devastating effect on the industry.

Key findings of the snapshot study of the state of the industry include:

• There has been a 25 per cent fall in employment in the sector since July 2011, suggesting that as many as 6,200 jobs have been lost

• 43 per cent of solar companies have reported that they will make redundancies in "coming months"

• Of the 190 companies surveyed, total financial losses exceeded £66 million as a result of FiT cuts

• 93 per ent of companies reported business as "very slow" at present

• 92 per cent were either "worried" or "very worried" about the future of their business

• 72 per cent suffered financial losses due to FiT cuts in December 2011

• 96 per cent are unhappy or unsure with the proposed FIT rates.

The evidence suggests that the current 'greenest Government ever' has been going backwards, despite comments from Energy Minister Greg Barker this week that the Government was determined "to seize the momentum" in promoting renewable energy.

According to the 'Cut Don't Kill' campaign, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has admitted previously that its own figures show one third of staff currently working in the UK solar industry will lose their jobs in 2012.

Campaigners say solar remains one of the safest bets for Britain’s future energy needs: offering a resource that is clean, unlimited and homegrown. Such a future is, however, dependent on a strong solar industry to implement it. The current programme of cuts to the FiT risks killing off a fledgling British success story.

Howard Johns, spokesman for Cut Don't Kill said: "If the Government is serious about seizing the momentum and boosting renewable energy jobs it has a very funny way of showing it.

"After the total policy shambles of the last six months it is now vital that the Government’s actions need to match their soothing words. The Department for Energy and Climate Change need to think again and abandon the next round of swingeing Feed-in Tariff cuts expected in July."

And Alan John, head of renewable energy at leading law firm Osborne Clarke, added: "These statistics support what the UK solar industry has long suspected about the impact of the FiTs cuts. The drawn-out process has seriously affected major parts of the industry and many people’s livelihoods.

"The Government now needs to work very closely with the industry to rebuild trust and help make solar power one of the central planks of the UK’s renewable energy commitment."

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http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/uk-solar-industry-shrinks-by-a-quarter-3266.aspx