GlobalWatt a USA Solar Panel Manufacturer has bailed out of going ahead with building a solar panel plant in Michigan with a $177 million investment.Note even the Best Solar Panel Manufacturers are facing a torrid time with some established comapnies like Solon,Evergreen Solar going bankrupt.Almost 5000 solar comapnies in Germany have gone bust this year according to BSW.Given the massive glut of solar panel capacity it is not surprising that Globalwatt has abandoned its plans of adding to more global capacity of solar panels.
Calif. company cancels $177M Saginaw solar plant
A California-based solar power company is canceling plans to build a $177 million solar panel factory in Michigan, the chief executive said. When the project was announced in 2009, San Jose-based GlobalWatt Inc. said it would create 500 jobs. At that time, Saginaw was one of two communities in the running for the project.
But GlobalWatt chief executive Sanjeev Chitre said the Saginaw project is now on hold, because of a struggling economy and overseas markets.
The Chinese solar panel producers too are facing tough times with many companies running at low utilizations and almost everybody running losses.Some companies with huge debt burdens like LDK are running because of government largesse as they are effectively insolvent for all purposes.Expect more bankrutpcies in the coming year .It will take a very foolish or a very brave company to expand solar capacity this year.
Only USA Solar Installers are having a good time with below cost solar panels availabe increasing the returns and leading to massive increased.It looks like 2012 will be a good year for US solar installers who are expanding rapidly to take advantage of the falling solar module prices.Even Buffett is going all into solar development space acquiring billion dollar project in a classical case of vulture investing.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., Warren Buffett‘s energy company, said Friday it will add to its nascent position in renewable power by investing in a second solar farm.MidAmerican will buy a 49% share of a $1.8 billion solar-power plant owned by NRG Energy Inc. that U.S. solar-panel maker First Solar Inc. is building in the Arizona desert. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
First Solar and NRG obtained a $967 million government loan guarantee for the 290-megawatt project, called Agua Caliente, which the companies have said could generate enough electricity for about 56,000 homes.Earlier this month, MidAmerican, which is controlled by Buffett investment arm Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said it agreed to buy a $2 billion California solar farm from First Solar, putting the Iowa-based owner of utilities, wind farms and conventional power plants in the solar-power business for the first time.
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