Solyndra may not be a player in the solar market anymore, but it’s making new headlines with its latest lawsuit against Chinese companies, which it says have colluded to sell solar panels at below cost and drive competitors out of business.
The inaugural PV America West solar trade show, which took place in San Jose amid a big trade dispute involving Chinese manufacturers, offered novel solar equipment designs and robotic technology as well as an interesting mix of marketing and politics.
Suntech, the largest solar manufacturer in China if not the world in terms of production capacity, saw 22 percent of its sales in the third quarter of this year from China.
Solar makers continue to struggle in 2011 with weak third quarter earnings, as the price of solar panels has dropped by 40 percent and important European markets have cut subsidies. Solar companies Suntech, JA Solar, LDK Solar and Canadian Solar all issued disappointing earnings.
India is enjoying great love from solar companies as a result of its solar incentive programs. But rule changes to its national solar program also gives some companies a big advantage — namely First Solar.
China is either the greatest opportunity or the greatest threat the U.S. green technology industry has ever faced — or, according to Chinese greentech experts at Wednesday’s Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, somewhere in between.
Earnings are looking a whole lot brighter for most greentech and solar firms, compared to a year ago. Well, that was the case for both rare earth mining company MolyCorp and solar panel maker Suntech. However for Evergreen Solar not even a bullish solar sector helped.
The U.S. market isn’t just attractive to solar energy equipment makers from China, it also is drawing project developers from the country. GCL Solar Energy, owned by a Chinese silicon wafer maker, has lined up over $100 million from Wells Fargo.
The solar industry will take over the LA Convention Center via the Solar Power International (SPI) event this week to showcase the latest technologies and discuss regulatory and financing trends. Here are five hot topics that you will no doubt hear about during the show:
Chinese solar module maker Suntech announced today that it is acquiring commercial solar integrator startup EI Solutions and forming a joint venture with solar financier MMA Renewables.
The nation’s dominant Internet service provider, AT&T, is working to develop a system to prevent the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content according…