Free Solar Panels don’t exist just as Free iPads don’t exist.Some websites and companies advertize free solar power or free solar panels based on government subsidies.Note even these free solar power offers are not completely free as they have a payback periods depending on how much government subsidies are given.Nobody is going to give you a free solar panel or a free iPad without a catch.
British Petroleum (BP) the multi billion dollar Oil and Gas Conglomerate is a strange player in the Renewable Energy Sector of Solar Energy.BP was a dominant company amongst the top 10 global manufacturers of solar panels till a few years ago.However the lack of interest on the part of management,low investment,lack of R&D has made it a bit player in the fast growing solar panel market.Companies which did not exist till a few years ago have outpaced BP to become top solar panel producers.However BP Solar Panels continue to sell in a number of market because of existing sales relationships and brand name.However it is only uneducated and uninformed consumers who are buying BP Solar Panels in my opinion.BP Solar Panels should be avoided both from an economic point of view and from the environment perspective.
While Chinese pure play solar panels companies have already captured a majority of the global solar module market,the entry of newer Chinese players into the solar energy market refused to stop.China’s 5 largest state owned utilities have already made their presence felt in the Chinese domestic solar installation market by bidding extremely low to win projects under the Chinese Solar Subsidy program.Automotive companies like BYD have also announced a big investment into solar panel manufacturing while Hanlong and Bluestar Groups have decided to invest in the CPV and Polysilicon sectors respectively.
German’s Solar Energy Market is the biggest in the world by a fair margin.Germany installed almost 6 gigawatts of solar panels in 2010 taking the total installed capacity to almost 16 GW which is 40% of the world’s total installed solar capacity.Note Germany’s Photovoltaic Solar Electricity now forms almost 10-15% of the total electricity production in the country at peak time.Note Germany’s solar industry got a renewed boost when 7 old nuclear plants were shutdown following Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Disaster recently.Previously Germany had decided to extend the operating life of its Nuclear Plants despite stiff opposition.Germany Solar Subsidy which is framed under the Renewable Energy EEG law has made Germany one of the world’s leaders in Wind,Solar and Biomass Energy.Germany’s Manufacturing Industry has benefited from the strong domestic market with many of the world’s top solar panel companies located there.Solar equipment,inverters and cell companies are also present in large numbers.Recently Germany amended its Feed in Tariff Law to slowdown the exponential growth in solar panel installations.This is over and above the regular reduction in solar subsidies done each year.
China’s Solar Industry is the biggest in the world with 5 of the biggest Solar Panel Manufacturers being Chinese.The low costs of Chinese Solar Panels have made them capture almost 40% of the world’s market in 2010 up from almost 0% in 2005.The remarkable growth in the Chinese Solar Panel Industry has been due to the supportive government,low labour and capital costs and aggressive competition.This has made the higher cost solar panel manufactures cut their prices in order to retain their marketshare.Trina Solar has shown the best growth amongst the solar panel producers and it now competes with Suntech which is the world’s biggest solar panel producer.China has also got a number of Tier 2 and Tier 3 producers of solar panels.These small solar panel companies sell mostly in the spot market and quote very low prices.The quality of the solar panels of smaller companies is also suspect.Due diligence and Review of Solar Panels is necessary in order to Buy Solar Panels from China.
The Taiwanese Solar Industry has become the 2nd largest in the world following in the footsteps of China.Taiwanese Solar Industry has a longer history than the Chinese with Solar Cell Makers Motech and E-Ton establishing themselves globally way back in 2006.However the steep fall in solar panel prices following the Lehman crisis had led to losses for these companies as the Chinese companies surged ahead using their low cost manufacturing.The crisis also led to the emergence of newer Taiwanese companies like Gintech,Neo Solar which are growing at extremely fast rates.Note Taiwan is a hub of semiconductor manufacturing with leading companies like TSMC,AUO,UMC,HTC etc.Solar Industry uses many of the same technologies,raw materials and techniques common to semiconductor and Display Panels Production giving Taiwanese firms a natural advantage.Taiwan has been predominantly present in the crystalline Solar Cell part of the supply chain and lacks a big manufacturer of polysilicon ( though a facility has been started).The lack of vertical integration has also made the costs of the Taiwanese industry higher.The entry of large companies like AUO,TSMC has further increased the competition in the Taiwanese market.Note Taiwan’s government has also promoted the use of solar energy in the country through the use of a Feed in Tariff program.