Komax to exit Solar Market

The Europeans have been abandoning the solar market in increasing numbers in the last 2 years. The European solar companies dominated the whole solar industry supply chain. Now only a few European companies are surviving while none of them are thriving. Q-Cells the largest solar cell company was bankrupted and the biggest solar panel maker Solarworld is now close to bankruptcy. The largest poly and wafer producer REC is also struggling, as its US poly plant suffers from duties by its biggest customer – China. SMA Solar which used to be the biggest solar inverter maker is also facing losses this year, with its global marketshare eroding almost every quarter. Siemens and Bosch have already announced their complete exit from the solar market, writing down hundreds of millions of dollars.

Read more on the European Solar Carnage on GWI.

Now a small solar equipment maker Komax is also looking to sell its solar division. Komax is one of the biggest solar module equipment suppliers to the industry being present in the sector for a long time. However, the company has faced a complete drought of new orders in recent times as the global solar panel industry is suffering from huge overcapacity. Companies are not ordering new equipment as they look to increase the yield of existing equipment or outsource orders. Komax group gets a very small percentage of revenues from the solar industry and it makes sense for the company to focus elsewhere given that this division has been making losses for the last few quarters. Note 2012 saw the lowest solar capital spending in the solar industry history at just $2.6 billion. Most solar equipment makers are deep in the red with some in the bankruptcy court.