USA | Green World Investor

GlobalWatt bails out of constructing a Solar Panel Plant in Michigan – Not Surprising

2 Jan, 2012

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 Buys Interest in Solar Farm

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.

Solar Panels Manufacturers USA – Complete List of Top Domestic Solar Panel Suppliers (Sunpower,First Solar,Suniva,Uni Solar,Solarworld,Sanyo)

6 Jul, 2011

First Solar,GE,MEMC,Miasole,Sharp,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Solarworld,Sunpower,Suntech,USA

Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA are facing a torrid time from the falling prices of Chinese solar panels.This has caused the bankruptcies of some big solar panel companies in recent times like Solyndra,Spectrawatt and Evergreen Solar.Only those solar panel companies with the lowest cost and good quality will manage to survive the price war in solar panels that is currently on.Most companies are running losses as the prices of solar panels have decreased by 40% in 6 months.This would cause any industry to see massive bankruptcies and this is the case with the solar panel industry as well.Note Solar Industry is a new one with rapid technology and cost changes which makes startups with bad business models go bust.This is a natural effect of capitalism and nothing to be afraid of .However you have to be careful of which solar panel manufacturer to buy from as your 25 year solar panel warranty will become useless if the solar panel manufacturer from which you brought the solar panel goes out of business.On the Bright Side the sharply declining costs of solar has made it the biggest advantage of using solar power.

Note there are a number of small solar panel manufacturers in the US as well as big established solar panel companies like First Solar.There are also some foreign solar panel suppliers which run and operate solar wafer and solar cell factories in the USA and sell “Made in USA” Solar Panels.Some of the US Stimulus Grants are only allowed for “Made in USA” products so you can also buy domestic solar panels made by an International Supplier if is making the solar module from a factory in the US.Note Solar Panels in Ontario Canada also run on the same principle.

Big Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

First Solar is the largest Solar Thin Film Manufacturer in the world and a benchmark for other thin film companies thinking of making it big.The company was promoted by Wal-Mart promoters and has seen remarkable growth in the last few.This US based company uses Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) Technology and is the lowest cost panel producer in the world today if you don’t include any penalty for low efficiency.Even if you penalize the Cd-Te Technology for its lower efficiency vis-a-vis the higher efficiency crystalline technology,First Solar is clearly the leader with a core cost of 74c/watt.The company has a roadmap of reducing the cost to 52c/watt by 2014 and given its track record it seems quite achievable.There is little doubt about First Solar’s ability to survive and flourish due to its massive first mover advantage.
Sunpower - Sunpower produces the highest efficiency crystalline solar panels in the world.This is a US company like First Solar and has a strong system installation business as well.A offspring of Cypress Semiconductor,it faced tough times due to its higher costs.However seems to be on a recovery path.Failed to expand as rapidly as the Asians in 2010.
MEMC/SunEdison- The only big American solar wafer producer is building a factory in Malaysia to reduce costs.The company is one of the biggest manufacturers of semi wafers.Like GCL Poly,it is also expanding into the solar systems business without getting into cell and module production.The company has partnered with Flextronics to make solar panels in Ontario.

Small Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

Suniva was spun out of Georgia Institute of Technology’s University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics (UCEP) using the work of Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi in 2007 who is the founder and director of the photovoltaic (PV) research program.Suniva produces 17+% – 20% efficient cells. Currently, Suniva is producing 20%+ in the lab, and the world’s highest commercially available cell efficiency in full-scale low-cost production
Miasole – Miasole made a major splash announcing a record breaking 13.8% efficiencythin film module which it will ship in 2011.The company has also raised another $100 million in equity finance despite fall in its pre-IPO valution to $550 million from $1.2 billion earlier.Seems an attractive target for a takeover.
Nanosolar – This secretive CIGs startup has big backers in the form of Google and others.The company is planning to build a massive plant in US but till now there has been little news about its commercial shipments,efficiency or costs.Remains to be seen if it manages to succeed or joins the long list of thin film deaths.
Abound Solar - Abound Solar which is a CdTe startup has also received a massive loan guarantee like Solyndra earlier.This money is going to be used to set up manufacturing facilities in Indiana and Colorado.Abound Solar has been heavily supported the the US government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and is in the process of starting a 200 MW plant in Colorado.
Ascent Solar – This US Based Company has a long history of making Thin Film Panels on Flexible Substances.The company is trying to survive against the onslaught of competition through strategic tie-ups with a number of companies around the world which will uses its Niche Technology.
Energy Conversion Devices – After First Solar,Energy Conversion Devices seemed the mostly likely viable c2mpany in Thin Film Technology.After a few quarters of profits in 2008,the company went into the red as its flexible a-Si modules failed to cut costs as fast as others.It has been shutting factories in the US and shifting to low cost locations.Still one of the biggest independent Thin Film Producers.Seems more likely that it will be bought out then survive independently.
General Electric - GE has invested in a Cadmium Tellurium Startup Prime Solar which is ramping up production.Note Cd-Te is the same technology which is used by First Solar.GE has said that it has managed to attain 15% efficiency on commercial glass.Don’t know how much of it is true since First Solar only manages around 12% efficiency despite around 10 years of dedicated R&D.However if GE can even manage to get near to that level then it would surely give First Solar a run for its money.GE has also tied up with Japanese Solar Frontier to market its CIGs based modules.
MX Solar is a Italian company that runs a 65 MW Solar Panel Production plant in New Jersey.The group also owns 2 production facilities in Italy and plans to expand in the USA.It remains to be seen whether this small company can expand when global majors are falling by the wayside.
Global Solar Energy opened in 1996, and in 2008 finished another phase of development as it expanded its CIGS production to a new 40 MW facility in Tucson, Arizona and a second 35 MW facility in Berlin, Germany

Other companies are AQT Solar,Solopower,Heliovolt.

International/Foreign Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

Sharp the Japanese Zaibatsu known more for its Electronics Products is also the world’s No 1 Company in terms Solar Module Revenues.Despite its leadership in c-Si Technology,it has shifted focus to a-Si thin film due to higher costs.Sharp has started shipping a-Si modules from its 1 GW capacity plant in Sakai.With its established distribution strengths and technological abilities in LCD Technology,Sharp is one company that can survive the c-Si onslaught.With most of the a-Si thin film competitors bankrupt or in a moribund state,Sharp can capitalize to completely capture this space.However the cost structure of Sharp is not clearly known right now to make a clear call on how this will turn out.Also a 10% efficiency while decent for a-Si technology fall far short of the 13% claims by CIGS start-ups like Miasole.
Panasonic/Sanyo – Sanyo is the producer of high efficiency solar panels and like Sharp sells mostly in Japan and USA.With buyout by Panasonic is looking to sell integrated energy efficiency/energy storage/solar energy home solution.
Suntech was the world’s biggest producer of solar panels in 2010 and was one the first companies to set up operations in China.Its example was followed by a host of other Chinese companies.Suntech has been slow to expand compared to the fast growing small companies in China and has lost marketshare to them.It has started to vertically integrate in order to meet the low cost challenge from Trina and Yingli.The company has opened a small 30 MW factory in the USA which it plans to expand .
Solarworld – Biggest German producer of solar panels,the company is one of the few to still have operations in Europe and USA.The company has been battered by low cost competition .he company operates production facilities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. In California the largest production site in the USA for solar modules and in Oregon the largest production site in the USA for solar wafers and cells are being created.The company has now closed the solar module production citing the tough competition from Chinese solar panels.

Also read about Solar Inverter Manufacturers.

Huge Solar Panel Farms,Rooftop Projects in USA being planned as Solar System Prices decrease 40% to $3.50/watt (NRG Energy,National Solar Power,First Solar )

30 Jun, 2011

First Solar,Solar Energy,Solar EPC,Solar Panels,USA

Huge Solar Panel Projects are being planned in the USA by solar developers and utilities as solar panel prices have fallen by 20-30% in the second quarter of 2011 as solar panel manufacturers are faced with oversupply and inventory issues.Note building both coal and nuclear power plants in the US has become increasingly difficult with pollution and climate change issues coming to the fore.While natural gas is getting a boost due to cheap shale gas discoveries,solar energy is picking up pace due to the government support in the form of DOE Loan guarantees and Treasury Grant programs like 1705.Recently two very large solar panel projects have been announced or are in the process over the next 3-4 years.

NRG Energy and Prologis with DOE Loan Guarantee and Bank of America $1.4 Billion Debt Finance

NRG Energy has been one of the largest developers of solar energy in the USA with a number of large scale utility projects using both solar PV and solar thermal technologies.NRG Solar which is a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy has almost 2000 MW of solar energy capacity being developed with almost half being constructed.NRG has aggressively bought solar panel projects from First Solar and has also tied up with Brightsource Energy acquiring an equity interest in the 392 MW solar thermal power plant being built by the company.NRG Energy has now turned its attention to the commercial rooftop market tying up with warehouse operator Prologis and Bank of America to build 733 MW of projects spread across 28 states in the USA.The company has also got a loan guarantee of $1.2 billion from DOE which will further improve the returns from these projects.This is the largest distributed solar project in the world right now and shows a template for further such solar projects in the future by leading energy providers and large rooftop owners.NRG Energy has been actively increasing its renewable energy portfolio recently acquiring wind energy farm developer Mountain Energy cheaply.Alongwith NextEra Energy,this energy generator has been the most proactive in the renewable energy area.

National Solar to build Twenty 20 MW farms in a single place

National Solar a developer of solar farms is shortlisting sites to build a huge 400 MW solar farm in twenty segments of 20 MW each.Note US Solar Installers/developers are increasing as solar energy industry keeps on growing at almost a 100% growth rate.While a number of established solar developers have been acquired by upstream large solar panel companies,newer ones keep popping up.Note the cost of the project is around $3.5/watt which is the same as that being estimated by NRG Energy.The Solar System costs have declined dramatically in the last 2-3 years by around 35-40% from around $5.5-6/watt to $3.5/watt at present.With solar panel prices expected to keep declining at around 10% annually expect more such solar panel projects to be announced.

Site for 400 MW PV project narrowed down

National Solar Power has announced that seven counties in three states “are in serious contention” to be chosen as the site of the huge project. They are: Gadsden, Hardee, Osceola and Suwannee in Florida; Sumter and Tatnall in Georgia; and North Carolina’s Guilford County. A final decision is expected within the next month.

The criteria laid out by the company for the site of its solar project include finding adequate areas of undeveloped land, receiving enough business, government and community support, and qualified workers, and appropriate economic development and tax incentives.

The 400 MW photovoltaic project is expected to be comprised of 20 20 MW solar farms, which will each be spread across 200 acres. National Solar Power says the generated energy will be enough to power around 32,000 homes.

First Solar has more than 1 GW of Solar Farms getting DOE Loan Guarantees

While Solar Panel stocks have been getting massively hit ,First Solar has not seen some of the massive drops mainly as 3 of its large solar farms may get big DOE Loan Guarantees which will allow it to easily sail through one of the worst times in the solar panel industry.Note First Solar has 3 projects getting the DOE Loan – $680 million for the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch in Los Angeles County, $1.88 billion for the Desert Sunlight project in Riverside County and $1.93 billion in loans for the Topaz Solar project in San Luis Obispo County.

These Three solar farms will generate around 1330 MW of solar energy when completed and will make First Solar the biggest solar installer in the US.Two of these solar panel projects have 550 MW of solar capacity making them the biggest solar panel plants in the world.

Electronic Waste Recycling – Process,California E-Cycling Fees and Act of 2003 as USA Shockingly has failed to Pass a Federal E-Waste Law

14 May, 2011

USA

Electronic Waste is a massive problem in the Developed and Developing world with Thousands of Tons of Hazardous Electronic Waste being generated each year.With Electronics getting more ubiquitous and costs falling rapidly,Electronic Waste Problem is only going to increase.E-Waste is responsible not only for releasing dangerous substances into the environment it also causes deaths and injuries to poor in countries like India,China and Africa who are forced to work in extremely bad conditions.Electronic Waste Recycling is the need of the hour but the governments around the world have not pushed hard enough.Europe has been at the forefront with the WEEE directive passed in 2002 while USA has been a laggard as usual failing to prevent toxic waste from being dumped in landfills and shipped to poor countries with lax environmental regulations.Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 has been passed in California which again as usual has been leading the federal government on clean technology legislation.

How the Powerful Technology Industry have prevented USA from passing a E-Waste Management Law

It is quite shocking that USA which is the global leader in Technology with companies like Apple,Google,Microsoft,IBM does not have a federal law on regulation of electronic waste.It is the powerful corporate lobby which has prevented this hazardous waste from being obligatorily disposed of in an ecologically sound manner.It is surprising and shocking that USA has failed to pass the law which leads to thousands of tons of toxic electronics waste being shipped to countries like India besides polluting the landfills in America with hazardous materials as well.At present, there is no Federal mandate to recycle e-waste. There have been numerous attempts to develop a Federal law. However, to date, there is no consensus on a Federal approach.However any states have instituted mandatory electronics recovery programs. The following website provides regularly updated information on state e-waste legislation

What is Electronic Waste Recycling Process

Electronics has grown at such a tremendous pace that Americans own approximately 24 electronic products per household.The electronic waste recycling business has involved greater diversion of electronic waste from energy-intensive downcycling processes (e.g., conventional recycling), where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing.

Process Steps

In developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand.To obtain the highest possible result, labour intensive methods are used to completely disassemble and separate items into core materials and components.

In an alternative bulk system a hopper conveys material for shredding into an unsophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to recyclers. Some of the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets are employed to separate glass, plastic and metals.. Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained, and treated to mitigate environmental threat.

Alternatives to Electronic Waste Recycling

Reusing Electronics and Benefits

Reuse extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste stream for a longer period of time. Reuse, in addition to being an environmentally preferable alternative, also benefits society.

Donating Electronics and Benefits

Donating used (but still operating) electronics for reuse extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste stream for a longer period of time.By donating your used electronics, you allow schools, nonprofit organizations, and lower-income families to obtain equipment that they otherwise could not afford.s a business, you might be able to take advantage of tax incentives for computer equipment donations.

Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003
EWRA was signed into law on September 24, 2003, and amended by SB 50 (Stats. 2004, ch. 863) on September 29, 2004. One of the major objectives of the Electronic Waste Recycling Act, as amended, was to establish a new program for consumers to return video display devices, such as televisions and computer monitors, that are hazardous wastes when discarded. California consumers had to pay a fee of $6 to $10 at the time they purchase certain video display devices. Those fees are deposited into a special account that is used to pay qualified e-waste collectors and recyclers to cover their costs of managing e-waste.

Electronic Recycling Fee in California

California unlike the European Union has taken a different approach to funding of Electronic Waste Management.Whereas in Europe,”Producer Responsibility” is used to fund the disposing of e-waste,California charges the fee fro the customer of electronics. The Electronic Waste Recycling (eWaste) Fee is a fee imposed on the retail sale or lease of certain electronic products that have been identified by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) To remit the fee, a retailer must register with the Board of Equalization. A retailer may retain 3 percent of the eWaste fee it collects as reimbursement for costs associated with the collection of the fee.

The Electronic Waste Recycling Act had two main objectives:

1. To limit the amount of toxic substances in certain electronic products sold in California: The levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium allowed in materials that make up covered electronic devices are limited by California’s ROHS. Manufacturers of covered electronic devices are required to provide information to: 1) reduce the levels of toxic substances in electronic devices they produce; 2) increase the use of recyclable materials in their products; and 3) provide outreach programs to consumers

2. To establish a funding system for the collection and recycling of discarded covered electronic devices.

Which sales and products are subject to the fee?

Effective January 1, 2005, the fee is due on the retail sale or lease of a new or refurbished* CED that has a screen size of more than 4 inches measured diagonally. CEDs include:

Televisions that contain cathode ray tubes.
Computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes or use liquid crystal displays (LCD).
Laptop computers.
“Bare” cathode ray tubes or any other product that contains a cathode ray tube.
Televisions containing LCD screens, which includes any device containing an LCD display greater than 4 inches measured diagonally (viewable size), that has television tuner capability and can process a broadcast, cable, or satellite transmitted television signal (added July 1, 2005).
Plasma televisions (added July 1, 2005).
Portable DVD Players with LCD screens (added July 1, 2007).

Sources and Further Reads

http://www.ban.org/
http://www.boe.ca.gov/sptaxprog/ewfaqsgen.htm
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/EWaste/MoreInfo.cfm

Toxic Nuclear Waste to be Dumped on Poor Citizens Mongolia by Japan,USA for Toshiba,GE Nuclear Reactors

10 May, 2011

GE,Japan,USA

Japan and USA have failed to open a permanent nuclear waste storage site despite decades of planning and with thousands of tons of nuclear waste lying in temporary pools.The problems of Nuclear Waste were brought to the fore in the Fukushima Nuclear Accident where spend fuel rods which are a high level nuclear waste where the chief cause of radioactive emissions.USA too has failed to open a nuclear waste storage site despite almsot 30 years and most of the nuclear waste lies near nuclear plants in concrete storage

Now the 2 Countries Plan to Open Nuclear Waste Storage in Mongolia

Mongolia has been chosen by the two countries to open a nuclear wastes storage site for their companies radioactive waste.GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse are two of the three largest nuclear equipment suppliers in the world and have big plans to export billions of dollars of reactors to emerging markets.These will generate huge levels of nuclear waste which would need disposing of.Mongolia is a convenient dumping ground as it a developing country with lax environmental laws.The country has big plans for uranium extraction and building on nuclear power plants as well.Monatom the government miner plans to mine huge amounts of uranium from the country’s huge reserves to export to developing markets like China,India,Vietnam and others.Another case of dumping of toxic waste on developing countries by developed countries.Note the citizens of Japan and USA have made life difficult for those wanting to construct permanent nuclear waste storage facilities.Having failed to dump dangerous waste near their citizens,the government of these countries plan to dump the radioactive waste on poor citizens of Mongolia.

The Effects of Nuclear Waste are quite dangerous and this is the reason why despite billions of dollars USA has failed to construct a nuclear storage site for its dangerously growing nuclear waste stockpile

USA Nuclear Waste Policy

The US has 65,192 tonnes of the waste but the nation has no place to permanently store the material, which stays dangerous for tens of thousands of years.Currently, there are no permanent disposal facilities in the United States for high-level nuclear waste; therefore commercial high-level waste (spent fuel) is in temporary storage, mainly at nuclear power plants.A permanent facility was planned in the Yucca Mountains in Nevada by the Congress in 1987.This project that has long been the subject environmental and political opposition and with the Obama administration cutting funding this project appears to be in limbo after $9 billion was spent.

Japan Nuclear Waste Policy

Japan has a policy of reprocessing all nuclear waste unlike the USA however its nuclear storage policy too is highly dangerous.. The government and electric utilities state that this is the best policy for nuclear waste management since this process extracts the most highly radioactive materials and concentrates them into a relatively small volume as high level radioactive waste (HLW). The HLW is then vitrified (glassified) and put into stainless steel canisters. Japanese national law calls for permanent disposal of this high level waste in a deep geological final repository in a yet undesignated place in Japan.

The government estimates that approximately 31,000 canisters of HLW will be generated by nuclear power plant operation by the year 2010. Since a final repository site is yet to be determined for the high level waste, the vitrified HLW canisters now being generated by reprocessing in Europe are being shipped to Aomori Prefecture for temporary above ground storage for 30-50 years.

Japan, U.S. plan nuclear waste storage in Mongolia: paper

Japan and the United States plan to jointly build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Mongolia to serve customers of their nuclear plant exporters, pushing ahead despite Japan’s prolonged nuclear crisis, the Mainichi daily said on Monday.A Trade Ministry official said Japan, U.S. and Mongolia officials, at a meeting shortly before Japan’s March 11 earthquake, informally discussed possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility for countries with nuclear power plants but no spent fuel storage capability of their own.He said there were no concrete plans at this time but the ministry would consider such a project if Mongolia were interested.

The Mainichi said the facility would allow Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, which include joint ventures and units of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba, to better compete with Russian rivals that offer potential nuclear plant customers spent fuel disposal in a package.Mongolia plans to have its first nuclear power plant by 2020 and to build nuclear fuel production capacity to tap its rich uranium resources, undeterred by the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power complex, a senior official at the state-owned MonAtom LLC said in April.MonAtom represents the Mongolian government in mining and developing the country’s uranium resources.

Solar Energy Protectionism – Italy joins India,Canada in formulating Domestic Content Requirements

10 May, 2011

China,Italy,Renewable Energy,Solar Energy,Solar Inverters,Solar Panels,USA

Solar Energy has seen a massive boom in 2010 growing by more than 150% as falling solar product prices and increasing subsidies by governments looking to prevent climate change,peak oil and reduce pollution.However most of the solar panel production has become concentrated in China and Taiwan with almost 60% of the world’s solar panel production being done in those regions.The lower costs of labor,cheap cost of capital and good infrastructure has made this possible.However the massive amounts of imports of green products has raised the hackles in developed countries.France had suddenly cut subsidies to the solar power industry citing massive imports of cheap solar panels from China.Note this argument has some basis as European solar module manufacturers have seen huge losses and are shifting factories from Europe to Asia.

Ontario,India also have domestic content requirements

Ontario Canada has a comprehensive solar subsidy policy which mandate that a large percentage of solar components be manufactured in Ontario in order to receive the Feed in Tariffs.The province has managed to attract a lot of manufacturing investment as well due to its local content requirements which requires around 50-60% locally produced parts.This has made Solar Module companies like Silfab and Canadian Solar to set up module plants while companeis like Enphase,Schneider and SMA are setting up inverter plants in the province.Note the local content requirements for Renewable Energy Equipment are nothing new with China implementing a 70% requirement in 2005 for Wind Turbines.Japan which is also a large manufacturer of solar panels with major Japanese solar companies like Sharp,Kyocera has taken Canada to the WTO citing improper competitive practises.India which has one of the largest potential in solar energy installation too has promulgated a law that requires domestic content requirements.Solar Modules must be produced in India to gain FIT under the JNNSM.This law is expected to become stricter with solar cells also to be produced in the country in the future.This has drawn howls of protest from American officials who too tried domestic content in their subsidies under the Stimulus Act.

Italy joins the Solar Energy Protectionism Bandwagon

Italy has joined the bandwagon as well with the latest version of the solar subsidy law Conto Energia 4 giving additional 5-10% incentives for solar components manufactured in the European Union.Note it won’t benefit Italy too much as most of the manufacturing in located in Germany,Spain and cheap eastern European countries.What it is going to do is cause more disruption to the Italain Solar Market as China may take Italy to the WTO.Not that China is any better as it implicitly supports domestic companies as most of the government companies award contracts only to Chinese companies without being explicit about it.In fact the growth of the Chinese Wind Power Industry was due to the domestic content requirements law implemented in 2007.

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