The U.S. Solar Companies Keep Falling Like Nine Pins Against Chinese Ruthless Onslaught
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U.S. solar companies are dying like flies as the relentless fall in solar panel prices has totally upended their business models. Even top solar companies such as First Solar and Sunpower are in deep trouble and reporting losses and firing workers. First Solar is moving to its next generation technology.
First Solar is moving to its next generation technology Series 6 as it thinks that its interim technology Series 5 cannot compete with the costs and prices of solar panels being solar by Chinese giants like GCL Poly and Longi Silicon. The competition has suddenly become increasingly fierce in 2016 with solar panel prices falling by an incredible 26%. This has led to most solar companies falling into the red as they were unable to cope up with the steep change in the cost curve. Only a few large companies such as Jinko Solar and Longi have managed to keep themselves in the black in another huge down year for the solar manufacturers. Even as the solar installation industry continued to make new records with installations touching more than 75 GW, the solar manufacturers found the going increasingly tough.
Read about the Chinese Dominance in Solar Industry:
Some of the major solar panel makers have been forced to drastically change their strategies with Solarworld and Neo Solar announcing that they would completely stop their multicrystalline silicon panel production and move to monocrystalline. Sunpower has also closed a large chunk of its existing solar panel capacity finding it tough to run them at the prices. It now wants to work more closely with Chinese companies to build new technology facilities in China.
SolarCity has pretty much given up on its solar panel manufacturing selling the facility to Panasonic which will run it as best as it can and supply to SolarCity’s solar tiles business. Suniva which was the biggest manufacturer of solar panels in the U.S. has now announced bankruptcy, shutting down its 400 MW solar facility in Michigan. Even the money from its Chinese parent Shungfeng was not enough to support the company which is reeling under the solar panel glut and low prices. Even the U.S. anti-dumping duty on solar panel imports is not doing much to help the company as Chinese solar panel prices are lower even after the duties. The company is firing almost all of its workers and entering bankruptcy proceedings.