Another Major Player Exits the Solar Panel Market

by | Aug 9, 2013 | Industrial Energy & Onsite Utilities, Industry, Power Generation

Jim Cahill

Jim Cahill

Chief Blogger, Social Marketing Leader

There are bargains to be had in solar panels. Emerson’s Alan Novak, Director Mining and Power Industries, explains the shakeout underway for manufacturers.

Emerson's Alan NovakAs reported in an August 6th Wall Street Journal article, GE Ends Solar-Panel Push, Sells Technology to First Solar, General Electric (GE) announced that it has sold its solar panel manufacturing business to First Solar. First Solar is also facing challenges with profits down 70% for the year.

This follows a similar announcement by solar panel maker Siemens on June 18th indicating they were closing their last solar division after a seven-month search for a buyer.

Falling panel prices have been great for consumers, with prices projected to keep dropping for the foreseeable future:

Source: TheSolarco.com, What Affects the Price of Solar Panels?, https://jimc.me/15R87Bs

But this is not as beneficial for manufacturers trying to establish themselves in this market.

The falling price of panels has had unintended consequences. A number of governments put significant subsidies in place to encourage the development of solar power when panel prices were high. Now that the cost of the panels has dropped, installations have dramatically increased, resulting in increasing subsidy payments. Both Germany and Japan, who were some of the most aggressive solar supporters, have announced plans to reduce solar subsidies.

With reduced subsidies, the rate of installation quickly adjusts:

Source: Whiteboardmag.com, Energy: this graph shows that Germany doesn’t love solar anymore, https://jimc.me/15R96Sn

What does the future hold for the solar power market? Only time will tell.

Popular Posts

Comments

Follow Us

We invite you to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to stay up to date on the latest news, events and innovations that will help you face and solve your toughest challenges.

Do you want to reuse or translate content?

Just post a link to the entry and send us a quick note so we can share your work. Thank you very much.

Our Global Community

Emerson Exchange 365

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the authors. Content published here is not read or approved by Emerson before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Emerson.

PHP Code Snippets Powered By : XYZScripts.com