USA Opposes India’s Solar Energy Domestic Content Requirements

15 Dec, 2010
Canada,China,Energy,First Solar,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Sunpower,USA

USA has opposed India’s Local Content Requirements for the Federal Solar Energy JNNSM program.Note according to the JNNSM rules,solar panels will have to be produced in India for the first year and solar cells will also have to produced from the second year.There is also a proposal that the local content requirements may be extended beyond 2013 and will also include solar inverters.US administration is opposed to these rules as it will lead to export hurdles for its solar companies Sunpower and First Solar.India installers and developers have also opposed the move as it will lead to lesser choice amongst suppliers and probably higher costs.

Note India solar cell/module manufacturers are heavily in favor of the domestic content rules as it will be difficult for them to compete with much larger and lower cost Chinese companies.Note China has not protested against these moves as it promoted its Domestic Wind Energy Industry in 2006 through this policy.Ontario,Canada too is following the same policy and has been take to the WTO by Japan.Note USA has not been a party to the Japanese move,as its companies have won large contracts in the region.There are both pros and cons to the domestic content policy for solar energy but one thing is for sure if free imports are allowed,Indian companies are not in a position to compete with the foreign ones on cost.

U.S. Pushes India to Lift Solar Import Restrictions

U.S. government officials and companies are pushing India to remove its restrictions on imports of solar technology, regulations they say threaten to cut American firms out of a promising market as India embarks on a major rollout of solar power.

A spokesman for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that “limiting access to high-quality solar equipment that is available outside India is likely to only frustrate” India’s plans to boost solar power production and “discourage further investors from developing solar projects in India.”

Bryan Ashley, co-chairman of a task force that represents U.S. solar companies, and chief marketing officer of Suniva Inc., a Norcross, Ga., photovoltaic-cell maker, says the import restrictions will cut off Indian solar companies from advanced technologies. “This has been pushed by some in the Indian industry to give themselves a monopoly,” he said.

Solar Energy in India – Domestic Content Requirements may be made more Stringent for Longer Time

13 Dec, 2010
Energy,Solar Energy,Solar Panels

Solar Energy in India is one of the biggest growth opportunities of the 21st century,however the recent government auction of solar projects has thrown a spanner in the works.Numerous problems have cropped up with JNNSM including presence of unknown companies as the best bidders with irrational bidding,debt financing problems and lack of scale.However the government seems to be confident of achieving the 1.1 GW 2013 target under the Phase 1 of the Solar Mission.

Note both the Solar Thermal and Solar PV Project bidding have led to grave doubts about how these solar plants will be implemented.Not only are the firms small,unknown with little project experience but they have also bid for feed in tariffs which would definitely lead to losses.According to MNRE,the government also plans to make the local domestic content requirements more stringent.The requirements will be extended to solar inverters as well and the provisions may not stop at 2013 but will go beyond as well.Note the JNNSM mandates that modules for solar energy be made in India in the first year and both cells and panels be made in the 2nd year.This is important for the growth of solar energy equipment manufacturing in India.This has been successfully used by both China and Canada to foster the growth of the green industry in their domestic market.However it has the side effect of raising prices and increasing inefficiency as they would lead to higher costs.They could also lead to the gaming of the system particularly as India is highly corruption prone country.

Solar Inverters are a crucial part of the Solar System which converts the DC electricity generated by the solar panels to AC electricity which is used in the Electricity Grid and Home/Office Appliances.Note Solar Inverters are seeing a great amount of innovation with the introduction of microinverters etc.A worldwide shortage of solar inverters in 2010 had caused solar installation to slightly slow down.SMA Solar is the biggest solar inverter producer in the world

India May Extend Local-Supply Rules for Solar Power Beyond 2013

India may expand its rules that require solar-power projects to use domestic suppliers for a portion of their equipment, a government official said.A regulation that Indian-made equipment be used in solar plants may be extended beyond 2013 to include inverters, Deepak Gupta, secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said at a conference in Mumbai.

“It’s a good idea for inverters to be made in India,” Gupta said. “The time has come.” Inverters help convert the current from a solar panel into a voltage that is usable by common electrical appliances.

Will Sharp be Decimated like the Europeans by Chinese Solar Panel Companies

1 Dec, 2010
China,Europe,Japan,Q-Cells,Sharp,Solar Energy,Solar Frontier,Solar Panels

Chinese Solar Companies have increased their global marketshare of the Solar Panel to around 60% from virtually 0% in 2006.The Solar Panel Rankings of the Chinese has been growing since last year as Europeans and Japanese have found no answer to their cheap solar panels.Q-Cells,Solarworld and other European companies have been reduced to bit players in the Solar Market as the low cost Asians have ramped up their capacity and shipments in 2009 and 2010.The only reason that they continue to survive is the more than 100% growth in the Solar Demand in 2010.With oversupply expected in 2011,Europeans will be virtually wiped out from the world solar panel market due to their high cost uncompetitive business models.European solar factories are closing as the remaining companies shift their production to low cost Malaysia and Singapore.

Sharp,the Japanese Electronics Giant was the largest solar company in the world by revenues in 2009,however it risks losing its top 5 place in 2011 as Chinese companies ramp up capacity at a much higher rate.Sharp has been shielded from the fierce competition in the solar panel market as the domestic Japanese market has also grown sharply.Japan is a tough market for foreign companies to crack like other sectors and that has allowed Sharp to prosper despite much higher costs and lower margins.However,Sharp has not been able to grow fast enough in 2010 with major Chinese companies seeing upwards of 100% growth.2011 promises to be even harder as European countries tighten their subsidy mechanisms.Newer competition in the form of conglomerates like Hanwha,Samsung,Hydundai and CIGs Technology Companies like Solar Frontier,Miasole,TSMC is expected to make the market even tougher.Sharp has been building a huge amorphous Silicon capacity at its facility in Sakai and has gotten traction as well selling modules to Thailand and Canada.It has also setup a JV with Enel in Italy as it turns into a IPP something similar to US companies First Solar and Suntech.It recently bought a downstream solar system developer Recurrent Energy to bolster its position.However Sharp faces a tough challenge in remaining a Top 10 Company with a 10% global marketshare.

Will Sharp be Decimated like the Europeans by Chinese Solar Panel Companies

Taiwan’s Solar Cell Concentration in the PV Supply Chain makes it Vulnerable to Oversupply

13 Nov, 2010
China,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,South Korea,Taiwan,Trina Solar,Yingli

Taiwan’s Solar Energy Industry has shown the fastest growth after China in recent years.The country’s leadership in the Solar Industry was led by Motech which was once a top 10 Solar Cell Producer.However the recent financial crisis had hit the island nation’s solar industry very hard with Motech and E-Ton facing a massive erosion in profits and revenues.With the recovery in the solar industry in 2010,Taiwan’s Solar Cell Producers have come back with a vengeance.Gintech,NeoSolar,DelSolar are some of the newer entrants which have grown sharply in 2010.Taiwan’s Solar Industry have broadened significantly in the past few years with presence in all parts of the Solar Supply Chain.A Polysilicon Plant was also recently opened in Taiwan which  is totally dependent on raw material imports for solar crystalline cells.Note the Wafer and Poly Tightness has already started increasing putting pressure on the input cost of cell producers.However the country’s solar industry remains largely dependent on the manufacture and exports of Solar Cells.

Massive Demand lifts all Boats Including Taiwanese Cell Producers

Huge demand from Solar Module Producers in Europe and Japan has led to boom times for Taiwanese Cell Manufacturers.Motech has again reclaimed it leadership position with sales of more than 100 MW in a single month.Other companies too are showing record revenues and profits.Note this phenomenon has been seen across the world with even high cost European producers like Aleo and Solon making impressive revenues and profits.The Strong Solar Demand Tide has lifted all boats even the uncompetitive ones.The real test will come in 2011 when increased supply comes online particularly from ultra low cost producers from China.

Solar Capacity Expansion threatens Taiwanese pure play Cell Makers

However Solar Capacity in the Industry has increased rapidly particularly in Taiwan and China.Besides Semiconductor and LCD Heavyweights like AUO ,UMC and TSMC have made huge investments into Solar Production.Korean Companies are too making a strong entry into the already crowded segment.Despite some capacity build in the wafer and module parts of the supply chain,Taiwan remains largely a cell producer.Compared to the integrated Chinese producers like Trina,Yingli,LDK and others,Taiwanese Solar Makers are vulnerable to sharp price cuts.They depend on European customers who are largely uncompetitive and would face huge pressures with the decline in the German market.Chinese producers have much lower costs due to their vertical integration which currently most Taiwanese  lack except Motech.Taiwanese Cell Capacity is set to increase manifold next year from the current 5 GW.Most of the Tier 2 Cell Producers would be running empty while even Tier 1 players will see a sharp decrease from this year.

Inside Taiwan’s PV Manufacturing Push – REW

Of the five key components of the crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaics supply chain — polysilicon, wafer, cell, module, and inverter — many PV companies in Taiwan have set their sights on the high-value-add cell manufacturing.

Taiwan presently has 5.3 GW of installed cell capacity at more than 15 companies, and 1.2 GW of installed module manufacturing capacity at another 15+ companies (see table, below).

Click to view larger version
Complete fabrication value chain. (Source: IEK)

Solar Energy in India Imperative for Rich State of Haryana But Desperately Poor in Renewable Energy

21 Oct, 2010
Energy,Renewable Energy,Solar Energy,Solar Heaters,Solar Panels

Solar Energy in India is starting to take off through the central government’s ambitious JNNSM plan of generating 20 GW of solar power by 2022.Solar Energy in India is one of the biggest opportunities in the Global Energy Market.Big Sunny states like Gujarat and Rajasthan have made a huge push towards installing Solar Energy while other states are trying to catch  up.Tamil Nadu which is the Greenest Indian State is also trying to ramp up its act in Solar Energy .Other states like Punjab are also promoting Solar Energy by installing Solar Panels in prominent landmarks like the Golden Temple.

Haryana is one of the richest states in India strategically located near India’s capital of Delhi.Haryana cities like Gurgaon and Faridabad have benefited hugely from being part of India’s National Capital Region (NCR).However Haryana only generates 0.5% of its 4000 MW of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources.The state has negligible Wind or Biomass Energy.Despite a Department of Renewable Energy being setup to specifically promote the use of Alternative Energy Sources,the state has not had much success.Haryana is richly endowed with Solar Energy Resources with 320 days sunny days.The State has managed to win some allocation from the centre’s JNNSM scheme.It is also promoting the use of solar energy through disseminating solar kits amongst 2000 schools and providing solar lighting in around 500 villages.

Haryana is investing in installing solar energy in public places like Raj Bhawan and collectorates of 10 districts.This is being further followed by the Haryana Power Generation Corporation planning to put up Solar Plants in 3 districts near existing Fossil Fuel Plants.The State Plans to use the JNNSM scheme to get funds for running these Solar Plants.The State already provides a number of subsidies for Solar Water Heating,Solar Lighting,Solar Coolers and Solar Lanterns.However for Solar Energy to make a big impact,large residential and commercial Solar Plants will have to be built.Note India’s Electricity Regulator CERC  had already made it mandatory for 6% of the Electricity to be generated from Renewable Energy Sources.Haryana has a long way to go to achieve 6% which will increase to 15% by 2020 and might have to buy a huge amount of expensive Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) unless it gets its act together.

Cheapest Solar Panels – Which Companies Sell at the Lowest Price and Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers

14 Oct, 2010
Canadian Solar,China,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Trina Solar

Distributors of Solar Panels Fleece Customers with High Margins

Solar Panels despite being mostly a commodity comes in a wide variety of types,technology,prices,size and colors.You can read an introduction about the lowest cost panels here.With there being no global index of Solar Panel Prices and with Prices of Solar Panels forming very quickly,its a difficult problem in acquiring the cheapest solar panels.The problem is compounded for solar panel buyers because these panels are typically sold by wholesalers and distributors who charge fat margins without providing any additional value.Also due to the lack of knowledge about the quality and the properties of solar panels,buyers generally get fleeced.Also panels are seldom sold separately as it is generally part of the overall package of the complete installation of panels,inverters,wiring,connection and integration.Here is a quick overview of which are the companies which make the lowest cost solar panels on the planet at a good quality and the most recent prices which they are selling at.Notice that the European and Japanese solar panels are of much higher price despite there being very little to differentiate themselves from Asian solar panels.

Lowest Cost Solar Panel Companies

There exists a number of low cost panel producers however for reference purposes here are the 3 of the biggest low cost solar panel producers.There are a number of other companies as well which sell at marginally higher prices than these 3 producers.

1) Trina Solar - Trina Solar is one of the lowest cost manufacturers of Solar Panels in the World right now and also sells it at a very low price.This is the reason that the company in a span of few short years has manged to acquire a 10% global marketshare.The prices the solar panels being sold are around $340 per 200 watt module.

2) Solarfun - The Company which was recently acquired by South Korean Chemicals Giant Hanwha also makes one of the cheapest panels and sells it a very low price.The quality is also quite good and with strong parentage behind it,the solar panels made by the company.Again like Trina Solar,it has very low cost Chinese manufacturing capacity.The company also sells at around $1.65/watt.

3) Canadian Solar – The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.The Company also sells panels at around $1.7/watt.

Summary

Note the European and Japanese companies like Sharp,Kyocera,Mitsubishi,Solarworld,Sunpower have very little extra in terms of quality compared to the much higher prices that they charge.These companies ask for 20-40% higher panel prices compared to cheap Chinese solar panels.A lot of these companies outsource the production to the Chinese companies as well like Flextronics etc.It makes better sense to buy directly from the companies than distributors who charge a huge margin without providing any benefits.

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