SolarWorld to Consolidate, Close California Production

I hope this is not the 'calm before the storm'

With heavily subsidized Chinese producers and suicidal US trade policies it may not be a profitable future for our few domestic manufacturers.

Container loads of Chinese for as low as $1.13/watt and SolarWorld at a break even cost of $1.85/watt. You do the math.

I like SolarWorld modules, especially where they're made. I boycott Chinese manufacturing, and so do many of my clients.

As far as I can tell Yugo did not put any US auto makers out of business. Being the low price and low quality leader does not make you a sure winner.

Now lower priced and high quality PV modules from China will pose a problem for other manufacturers. But the high quality modules from tier 1 Chinese manufacturers are not that much cheaper than anyone else.

In the 1970s the Grumman Aircraft Corporation had a Division manufacturing Solar Photo-voltaic Panels that was forced to shut down because of a lack of demand and I believe Building Codes that were written in the 1930s and never upgraded that amounted to installing the systems first and then declaring the installation to avoid delay,after delay of gov't approval and worse yet having the Property Assessment Office jack up your property taxes.
So, the money spent to save you money and reduce use of energy from fossil fuels and electric power was now to be given to the tax collector for property taxes.
I know, for my family was forced by our city to either obtain a permit, $$$$, Building Inspection- $$$, or dismantle the system and pay a fine of several THOUSAND DOLLARS for not having a permit to install the system in the first place.
Never mind that the President of the United States Jimmy Carter prompted this action (solar power system installations) by citizens across America in response to the OPEC oil prices.
The then Governor of New Jersey took his helicopter over the coastal waters and discovered a dozen or so Supertankers sitting outside New York Harbor waiting for the prices at the pump to increase before coming into port to unload their cargo of Black Gold.
And , by the way, in July of 1971 production line passenger motor vehicles were capable of getting 37 miles per gallon outfitted with a device tested in fleets and racetracks, but never was given to the General Public. WHY ?

Obviously a huge conspiracy by roofing companies that don't want PV modules protecting roofs and making them last longer which would cut into their profits. They are the ones that are responsible for all the building permit and code requirements for PV systems that are intended to keep them off of all roofs in America. ;-)

Just as an example of a low priced and low quality product being sold in the US market that did not drive US manufacturers out of business. Most PV modules from China fall into the low price and low quality category. If you are not dealing with a tier 1 manufacturer in China then watch all your savings go into warranty support of your installed projects as the modules fail.

I heard from one installer who bought a container of low priced modules from a Chinese manufacturer years ago and when it got here some of the cells in the modules were just pictures of cells laminated in. It was hard to tell just looking at them. The reason he got from the manufacturer was that they ran out of cells so they had to do it to fill the order. He never got his money back but he does have a good story.

Minimizing installation costs at the expense of life-cycle cost is part of the archaic paradigm that led to the current economic collapse. A pv array needs to last for 50 years. I don't spec materials for such an installation that are barely warrantied for half that time. Quality, not quantity, will guide development in the 21st century.

I am okay supporting "made in the USA" with up to an extra 10%, but that is about my limit all things being equal.

And having observed one of my SunTech STP 270 Chinese panels (now also made in America) apparently decide it wanted to try flying during Hurricane Irene (from the top row of my two story house). I was pleasantly surprised to find it apparently intact on the ground and even more pleased when the repair guys came over tested it and put it back on the roof because it took no damage from falling 30+ feet. It did land on grass, but still, I would not have been so lucky. I am now a believer in the quality of at least those Chinese panels. The American rack system that let it go, not so much.

Yup. There are quality Chinese modules.

Still there is Solar Moore's law that every 5 years prives drop by 50 % for PV electricity. With computer semiconductors,
lasers, LED lights, LED T.V., OLED lights, OLED T.V. and PV
engineering all going the same direction costs will come down. I bought a LED light for $11.00 years ago now $.40 and
a laser for $90.00 and now $1.00 at the dollar store.
Government will only screw it all up with taxes, permits, and
bureacratic stuff to get the money. The people move out to
better jobs and nobody will install PV on the roofs of vacant
homes.