China’s solar panel companies can used their government banks backing as a major competitive advantage. Just like their telecom equipment companies ZTE and Huawei they can use the debt to win contracts over suppliers from India and elsewhere. Note there is a already a major controversy in the USA over the subsidies and support given to Chinese solar companies and has led to a so called solar trade war between the two . Even USA has used its EXIM Bank to provides millions of dollars in financing of solar farms which are supplied by US Solar Panel producers First Solar. Chinese companies Goldpoly are using the strong billion dollar lines to build solar projects in the Europe as well
The falling prices of solar panels has made almost impossible thought of solar electricity prices possible today. In a state auction of solar projects ,a small company Alex Green Energy bid only 14c/ KwH to win the auction. The price is lower than that seen in the Indian federal subsidy auction JNNSM. Note Rs 7/ Kwh that was bid is close to the Rs 6-7/ Kwh retail electricity prices in most cities in India.Note in the first phase of auction the lowest price was more than 50% higher at Rs 10/ kwh
Solar Power in India grew by 400% in 2011 thanks mainly to the growth of large solar farms built using government subsidies. However there are hardly any rooftop solar panels on homes in India due to lack of knowledge, government support and distribution .Solar Energy incentives in most of the developed solar markets in Europe […]
The falling prices of solar panels and wind systems has made a number of people think of installing renewable energy systems on their roofs. The reasons for doing that are multiple such as
1) Rely less on the power grid which in India is unreliable ,has voltage fluctuations and sees massive brownouts
2) The increasing prices of electricity which are rising faster than inflation .They will continue to increase as cheap coal is becoming scarce and subsidies are making distribution companies bankrupt
3) To make a difference in the fight against climate change and global warming.
Oil Rich Middle Eastern Nations like Kuwait,UAE and Saudi Arabia have been planning to build nuclear energy plants for quite some time now. They have been extensively engaged in discussions with Asian consortia to supply technology and expertise for building nuclear power plants in their countries. The reason for their nuclear love is that these nations are seeing rapid growth in energy demand. The reason is their fast growing population which is increasing their consumption of oil and gas produced. This is reducing the export dollars from the supply of fossil fuels. The countries want to increase renewable and nuclear power so that they can conserve their depleting supplies of oil for exports. However the Fukushima incident has given some of them cold feet. While countries like Vietnam and China are pressing ahead with their nuclear expansion plans, Japan,Germany,Switzerland have decided to give up nuclear power. Widespread nuclear protests in Germany made the government take the drastic action of stopping a number of nuclear reactors. Kuwait Develops Cold Feet on Nuclear Energy,will UAE and Saudie\s capitulate as well
India’s Solar PowerIndustry is starting to see some M&A with both domestic and foreign companies buying smaller firms. While the biggest M&A story is that of Tata Power acquiring the stake in Tata BP Solar, other firms without any grounding in the energy industry are too getting in. Now a Coal Equipment and EPC company Tecpro is getting into the solar energy business by acquiring a small solar lighting and heating company Eversun.Tecpro Systemsis primarily focused on the Power Sector Space.It is a leader in the ash handling and material handling systems and is currently diversifying into becoming a turnkey provider in this segment.Like other infrastructure players it has seen amazing growth in the last 3 years at around 70%+.The growth has been fantastic both on the topline and the bottomline.The 2300 crore Order book provides some comfort over the next year’s revenues or so.The Power Sector in India particularly the Thermal Power Plants are expected to see an explosive growth period.Steel and Cement sectors are also growing strongly.With Tecpro Systems focusing on these 3 segments,it should be able to maintain a good growth trajectory in the future years as well