Grid Parity
July 15, 2011
Phono Solar is a JV between Phono Technologies Switzerland and Sumec Group of China.Phono’s parent company SUMEC Group has been in the PV industry from early 2004. Sumec and Sinomach family of companies claim to have $15 billion in revenues each year.SUMEC Group Corporation (SUMEC), founded in 1978, is a key member of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH).SUMEC’s core business consists of shipbuilding and project contracting of complete equipment and engineering; the R&D, manufacturing and export of machinery and electric products including power tools, garden tools, power machinery
Phono Solar’s three production facilities will produce more than 500MW of PV Modules in 2011.The products are widely used in many fields such as power station, telecom, transportation, lightening, broadcasting, civil defense, marine etc.The company's products are made in China and marketed by the Swiss company under the Phono Solar Brand.The Company also sells micro wind turbines which are used in small residential installations.
July 8, 2011
Solar Panels are fast becoming one of the fastest growing products for homes in the western world driven by the 75-80% reduction in the costs of solar panels in the last 3 years.The sharp reduction in the costs of solar panels has been driven by the improvement in efficiency of solar panels,increase in scale by Chinese solar panel manufacturers,solar equipment sophistication and advancements in the learning curveAlso the importance of Solar Energy keeps growing with the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster,Coal Mine Deaths,BP Oil Spill constantly reminding us the dangers of Coal,Oil and Nuclear Energy.On the other hand Solar Panels lead to no deaths directly or indirectly and are incapable of causing large scale disasters..Solar Panels these days are being made by a wide variety of manufacturers in different shapes and sizes.Different types of solar panels are also being made from different materials like silicon,CIGs,CdTe etc.Solar Panels are also finding uses in outdoor camping,boats,swimming pools,solar carports etc.Besides solar panels are also being used to power off grid systems in far off areas plus mobile phones and laptops.The advantages and uses of solar panels are growing by the day.Solar Power's greatest advantage is the declining cost which had made solar electricity from panels on par with grid retail electricity prices in places like Italy and Germany.With costs continuing to go down,its easy to see that solar panel generated power will reach the electricity prices in most places in the world in 2-3 years.
July 8, 2011
JA Solar is the biggest solar cell producer in the world with more than 2000 MW of silicon cell capacity.The company has one of the lowest costs in processing of solar cells from solar wafers.The company is primarily a supplier of solar cells to most solar panel producers in Europe and Asia.However the sharp fall in solar panel prices in 2011 has resulted in most of the European companies shutting shop which has meant that JA Solar has faced a large loss in customer orders for its solar cells.Unlike its peer Trina and Yingli Solar,JA Solar does not have a good brand name or distribution of solar panels.It is more of a upstream supplier of solar products to solar comapnies rather than a end distributor of solar panels.JA Solar has diversified into making solar panels of its own and in partnership with other companies.Having a strong presence in the end market has become essential to survive in the cutthroad solar market.
July 7, 2011
Solar Panels have recently become a point of trade friction between USA and China as a massive oversupply of solar panels has resulted in the prices of solar panels dropping by almost 50% in one year.This has caused great distress amongst solar panel manufacturers in the USA particularly the high cost ones which have been forced to close.Falling prices of solar panels are great news for customers but bad news for the producers of these solar panels.Now US and European companies are selling their solar panels advertising their "made in USA" credentials.This is to help them sell the solar panels which cost more but according to them have better quality and appeal to the patriotism of the Americans.Note the 2009 Economic Stimulus which promoted renewable energy had in fact "Buy American" provisions as well as the defense law passed in 2011.This means that a small part of the solar market is reserved for US Solar Panel Manufacturers who are being besieged by the low cost Chinese solar panel producers around the world.In fact Photovoltaic Module player Solarworld (which is German) is spearheading an effort to pass anti-dumping duties against the import of Chinese based panels.So which companies have "Made in USA" label.The surprising thing is that many of the solar companies are in fact foreign mostly European and Japanese though there are a native US companies as well.Note the most successful US Solar Companies First Solar and Sunpower (now Total) have always had the majority of their production outside the US in Asia.
July 7, 2011
Solar Panel Stocks have fallen off a cliff in 2011 driven by a massive oversupply in solar modules.The 2010 boom in solar energy demand led to rapid expansion by hundreds of established as well as new solar panel suppliers.This has led to a big increase in solar cell capacity.The demand in 2011 has not been enough to compensate for the massive increase in supply.Many of the higher cost companies in Western markets have already closed down operations with the news of a solar company closing down becoming a daily affair.The last time the wave of solar bankruptcies occured was during the 2008 Lehman crisis.At that time a few of the thin film companies had gone belly up as polysilicon prices had crashed.The sharp drop in solar panel stock provides a good time to enter the solar space as the valuations are at a historical low.Many of the solar panel stocks currently are being priced at a fraction of their sales and book value as the market expects almost every company to shut down.However solar demand is growing as the declining costs of solar energy is its biggest advantage.Also solar power growth is being vastly underestimated by policymakers and analysts.This short term pain is great as it provides a once in a lifetime oppurtunity to buy the solar panel leaders.
July 7, 2011
Photovoltaic Module demand has increased by more than 50% each year in the last decade as solar panel costs have gone down sharply by almost 80% in the last 4 years alone as scale and technology have improved.Photovoltaic Modules are a combination of solar cells which generate electricity when light strikes them.Photovoltaic is the name given to this process where electrons are released when photo or light transfer its energy to the solar cells.The following article covers a large amount of literature on Photovoltaic Modules from its costs to selling prices as well as the efficiency of the Photovoltaic Module which affects the Energy Output.There are hundreds of Photovoltaic Module Manufacturers but only a few major ones.There are reviews on the major Photovoltaic Module Suppliers and Market as well.
July 6, 2011
Solar Thin Film Technology has been growing rapidly despite falling costs of the mainstream Photovoltaic Crystalline Silicon Technology.While the current solar supply glut has resulted in some of the thin film solar film companies going out of business,big thin film suppliers continue with their growth plan.Solar Thin Film Technology is supposed to be the 2nd Generation successor to the mainstream Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) Technology which accounts for around 85% of world production.While a number of Weaker Hands in Thin Film have downed shutters,Thin Film Producers continue to grow and expand.The massive growth potential of Solar Energy makes it possible for both of these PV technologies to flourish.Thin Film Technology unlike c-Si has a number of variants.Amorphous Silicon (a-Si),Copper Indium Gallium Sulphide (CIGs) and Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) are the 3 main types of Thin Film Technology.There are a number of manufacturers of all of these 3 types of Technology.CIGs Technology is said to have the most potential in improving efficiency and competing with c-Si,however Cd-Te is currently the top dog as the world’s biggest solar producer First Solar currently uses this technology.a-Si Technology is not that hot with low efficiencies however Oerlikon and Sharp are pushing ahead with developing this technology.
July 6, 2011
Solar Panels are sold by hundreds of companies around the world ranging from small to very large and comes in various shapes and sizes as well.Besides this solar panels are also made of very different materials for example silicon solar panels and thin film solar panels.So comparing solar panels and choosing a solar panel is a very difficult process if you want the best solar panel according to your need.The most efficiency solar panels are needed in cases where the land area or rooftop area is at a premium.Note a typical 200-250 watt solar panel requires an area of 60x38 inches which means an area of around 2000 square inches.1 megawatt of solar panels would require an area of between 5-10 acres of land depending on the efficiency of the solar panels.However this can be reduced by using solar trackers which can increase the output of solar panels though they to increase the area requirement slightly.Also the area also depends on the location of the place since a place recieving high sunlight for example California would require lesser area for generating the same amount of electricity compared to London (upto 30% fewer solar panels).Note solar panels with higher efficiency have a higher price tag associated with them since they require higher cost to manufacture.The most efficiency solar panels which are used in spacecraft and have a efficiency of around 35-40% may cost upto 100 times more than the normal silicon solar panel.
July 6, 2011
Germany till a couple of years was the home of the biggest solar panel manufacturers in the world.This was driven mainly by the German Renewable Energy Law (EEG) which is the most successful renewable energy subsidy in the world.The German Solar Market has become the biggest in the world for the last 2-3 years and an estimated 25 GW of solar panels would have been installed in Germany.Capitalizing on a large domestic market a number of solar companies like Q-Cells,Solarworld,Solon and others became the biggest in the world.However the rise of the Chinese solar panel manufactures has made these companies shrink with some of them like Q-Cells facing questions of survival.The prices of the Chinese solar panels has become lower than the costs of the German made solar modules putting the economic viability of the German solar panels in question.Though the quality of the German made solar panels is higher and some of the best solar panels in the world are produced by the Germans,the price differential has meant that Chinese have captured almost 70% of the global solar panel market leaving little for the German solar panel companies.The Italian Feed in Tariff Law Contio Energia 3 has given somewhat of a boost to the German solar panel makers as it gives higher subsidies for solar projects,farms using European based modules.However German solar panel producers are in a secular decline with most of them shifting their factories to Asia.Q-Cells and Bosch have set up big solar manufacturing facilities in Malaysia while Solarworld is doing so in the US.Another Big European Solar Producer REC is closing its factories in Norway while expanding it in Singapore.
July 6, 2011
Amorphous Silicon Solar Panels were the big rage in 2-3 years ago when the prices of polysilicon the main raw material were touching $500/kg making the mainstream crystalline silicon solar panels very expensive.Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) on the other hand is a non-crystalline silicon which is deposited as an extremely thin layer on glass and other substrates.The cost of the silicon is much lower though the efficiency of solar cells which are made from a-Si is about half of those made from crystalline silicon.Applied Materials with its SunFab turnkey amorphous silicon (a-Si) equipment capitalized on this opportunity, lining up a number of customers with some customer orders in the range of a Billion Dollars.Oerlikon Solar was the other major thin film equipment market winning customers in Europe and China.Sky high poly prices also gave birth to numerous Thin Film startups planning to Manufacture and Use their own equipment rather than selling it .
July 5, 2011
The Internet is full of websites that advertize and give you steps on how to make solar panels.In fact DIY (Do it Yourself) Solar Panels has become almost a regular industry in training common people to make solar panels at their homes.The reason given is that building solar panels at your home is much cheaper than buying solar panels from wholesalers.There are numerous books as well that you can buy on amazon that have diy solar panels.These books have nothing but a manual on how to solder solar cells together to make a solar panel.You can pretty much get this for free from any of the credible solar websites.However DIY Solar Panels throws up tons of books and website advertizements that seemingly would make you into a wizard solar panel maker.The truth is far from what these charlatans say.Solar Cell and Solar Panel prices have fallen drastically in the last few years.In fact you can buy very good solar panels from China and other places.In fact you can buy very good quality Japanese solar panels from Sharp or Sanyo at $600 for a 200 watt solar panel.
July 5, 2011
Solar energy usage is an excellent, eco-friendly and cost-effective way to "Go Green". It is a very effective measure to save energy & money. We use the solar energy every day in many different ways.Solar Energy is indirectly responsible for other forms of Energy that we use as well like Coal,Oil,Gas,Hydro Energy etc.The biggest use of Solar Energy is in Agriculture where Sun Light is used by plants to grow and provide food for us.Solar Energy despite many years of development is not used in the generation of Electricity due to its higher costs.However that is going to change as Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.This is one of the biggest advantages of Solar Power over other renewable and non-renewable forms of energy.Solar Energy forms just 0.1% of the the total energy supply of the planet currently and analysts and decision makers don’t think that Solar Energy can form a big chunk in the future as well.However I differ strongly in that aspect.The main reason for my very bullish opinion on Solar Energy is based on the simple fact that Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are declining rapidly on a secular basis.In a world facing the prospects of “peak commodity”,solar energy remains vastly abundant and it remains upto human technology to capture it at the lowest costs
July 5, 2011
Solar Energy is the fastest growing industry in the USA and has been one of the fastest globally as well with solar demand rising by more than 150% in 2010 fueled by massive cuts in prices of solar panels especially those from China.While this has led to a major drop in solar energy stock prices this has also led to a massive boost in volumes due to demand elasticity.Only the top solar companies will be able to survive this brutal consolidation that is taking place with some companies like Solyndra already consigned to the death list.Solar Industry is a global one and has a big supply chain as well.This means that looking at only one stock market will deprive you of better opportunities that might exist in other stock markets.There is also a big supply chain associated especially with crystalline solar panels.There are companies that exist only in Polysilicon,Wafers,Cells,Modules.There are also companies that are suppliers of material like encapsulants and metal alloys to these industries.This article will give you a very broad idea on the complete list of solar energy stocks that exist in each part of the supply and different parts of the world.You can also look at the 2 solar ETFs that trade on the US stock markets TAN and KWT .
July 4, 2011
LG Solar Review of Multicrystalline and MonoCrystalline PV Cell Panels Modules Prices and Comparison
The LG Group is producing solar products through two Group Companies. LG Solar Energy was formed in 2007 to produce polysilicon which is the most important raw material for the production of solar wafers.It is already selling solar modules in the South Korean and European markets and plans to rapidly expand capacity to One Gigawatt by 2012.LG Electronics , plans to invest 1 trillion won by 2015 in its solar cell business and aims to generate revenue of 3 trillion won by 2015.LG plans to increase annual production of solar cells and modules at its plant in South Korea to 500 megawatts next year and 1,000 megawatts by 2013, from 330 megawatts today.LG plans to have a completely vertically integrated business in the Solar Power and plans to install massive solar power plants in the USA as well.
July 4, 2011
Dye sensitized solar cells are next-generation solar cells based on innovative technology. Unlike conventional silicon-based solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells consist primarily of photosensitive dye and other substances. A dye-sensitized solar cell is a low-cost solar cell. This cell is also known as the Gratzel cell & was invented by Michael Gratzel and Brian O'Regan. It is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo-sensitized anode and an electrolyte, a photoelectrochemical system. It belongs to the group of thin film solar cells.
July 3, 2011
olar Panel Manufacturers are present in most parts of the world with Korea,China,Taiwan,USA,Japan and Germany dominating.Solar Panels are of mainly 2 type – crystalline and thin film.Most of the solar panels produced today are of the crystalline type and are mostly used in residential rooftops.Thin film panels are mostly used in large ground solar power plants.Thin film solar panels are of lower efficiency and are lower priced as well.However falling costs of crystalline solar panels has led to their increasing dominance.
Solarworld AG
Germany till a couple of years was the home of the biggest solar panel manufacturers in the world.This was driven mainly by the German Renewable Energy Law (EEG) which is the most successful renewable energy subsidy in the world.The German Solar Market has become the biggest in the world for the last 2-3 years and an estimated 25 GW of solar panels would have been installed in Germany.Capitalizing on a large domestic market a number of solar companies like Q-Cells,Solarworld,Solon and others became the biggest in the world.
July 3, 2011
Photovoltaic Cells have grown tremendously in the last few years spurred on by lowering costs and high demand in European countries like Germany.Photovoltaic Cell Manufacturers have also increased particuarly in low labor cost regions of Asia like China and Taiwan.In fact most of the solar panels have solar cells from companies in Asia.Solar Cell Manufacturers have incresased their capacity at a fast pace to meet the increasing demand.Currently due to oversupply of Photovoltaic Cells,the prices of solar cells have crashed with top quality solar cell prices almost 50% down from that one year ago.This is one of the best times to install solar cell panels in your roof given the rapid decline in the cost.Most of the independent solar cell suppliers are from Taiwan and some from China.European solar cell producers have mostly disappeared due to the high cost base of the European factories.
July 3, 2011
What are High Efficiency Cells High Efficiency Solar Cells are those Solar Cells whose average efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity is in general much […]
June 30, 2011
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.
June 23, 2011
GoldPoly,SunOasis,China Technology Development Group Corplto invest $10 billion in European Solar Projects using Financing from China Development Bank and Merchants Bank.Note these 3 companies have integrated facilities from processing of polysilicon into wafers to making solar panels.Its the first time that 3 Chinese companies have combined to promote such a massive project.The 3 companies are not listed in the US stock or HK stock exchange unlike other major Chinese solar companies like Trina,GCL,Suntech,LDK and others.Note China Development Bank (CDB) which is owned by the Chinese government has already extended billions of dollars in credit to Chinese solar panel companies like JA Solar,LDK and others.
June 23, 2011
Solar Industry Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have picked up pace in recent times with a number of companies in distress with supply exceeding demand as Italy suddenly changed its solar subsidy policy in April 2011.With high inventory levels and prices crashing only the biggest and best solar panel manufacturers are managing to thrive.Note the Solar PV Industry has not seen too much M&A unlike the Solar Thermal Industry which has always been a hot area for M&A activity as giant industrial groups like Siemens,Areva,Alstom and GE have bought startups to improve their technology offerings.With the Solar PV industry having crossed more than $50 billion mark in 2010,more and more MNC conglomerates have now starting buying solar companies at cheap valuations.Here is a list of the recent buyouts,stake buys and mergers in the Solar PV Industry that have taken place recently.
May 2, 2011
Solar Panels have grown exponentially in the last few years driven by declining costs and growing energy prices.The advent of the low cost manufacturers of silicon solar panels from China,falling raw material polysilicon costs,subsidies from governements fighting climate change have all contributed to the more than 150% increase in world solar demand in 2010.Solar Panels are not only being used on roofs and giant rooftop ground plants,but also are being integrated in buildings known as BIPV applications.Solar Panels are also available in flexible forms which can be used in backpacks and other innovative ways.Now there is another niche for solar panels that is growing.Note most of these companies are using the Concentrated Photovoltaic Technology (CPV).The traditional CPV suffers from heating problems as high concentration of sun power leads to high temperature.Building the CPV systems on water will help them solve their problems according to these companies.
May 1, 2011
Note Big Oil and Gas has been slowly been retrenching form the solar energy industry despite initial leadership.Shell which was one of the biggest solar players has become almost non-existent while BP has shut down a number of solar factories outsourcing production to China.Other Oil and Gas companies like Exxon,Valero,Chevron and others have concentrated their energies on related green sectors like algae based biofuels rather than on solar and wind energy.So the move by Total comes as a surprise as it acquires one of the top 15 solar panel companies in the world.Sunpower is being acquired at a cheap price considering its world beating solar cell technology and its massive systems business which has gigawatts of solar projects under development.Note Sunpower makes the highest efficiency solar panels on a commercial scale and recently tied up with AUO.It is the 2nd biggest solar plant installer in the US and has a massive presence in the commercial and government sector.Total said it looked at over 200 companies before buying Sunpower.Note M&A has been strong in the Solar Thermal Industry and has now started picking up in the Solar PV Industry as well.With solar company valuations at a historic low,it makes sense for the larger chemical and energy companies to pick up good companies on the cheap.
April 17, 2011
A lot of confusion exists about solar cells efficiency about which technology results in how much efficiency and the difference between solar cells and the solar panels efficiency.Note the biggest differentiator of a solar cell besides its cost is its efficiency.Not only do different materials give different efficiencies,even different companies have conversion efficiencies which differ for the same technology.Silicon Solar Cell Efficiency also depends on the purity of the solar wafer which is used as raw material to print solar cells besides whether it is monocrystalline or multicrystalline solar cells.With most of the low lying fruit already gathered in respect to lowering cost of the silicon solar cells,most of the big Chinese solar companies are concentrating their efforts in improving the efficiency in order to cut down costs in the cutthroat solar industry where the stars of yesterday are fighting to stay alive (Energy Conversion Devices,Evergreen Solar).This rising tide of the solar industry in 2010 has not been able to revive the fortune of some companies though European companies have made enough to fight another day.Solar Cells Efficiencies also differ in the champion cells tested in labs like NREL and on commercial lines.But here is a general range of efficiency of different types of solar cells made from different technologies
Solar Cell Efficiency Improvement is the best way to reduce the costs of solar power and reach grid parity in most places in the world.Solar Cell Efficiencies have improved continuously and with a number of companies and startups investing billions of dollars in research,it will keep improving.However cost considerations are an important factor as well and the technology which balances the two will win the solar energy race
April 6, 2011
Islands mostly are depended on diesel generators for their electricity requirements which is considerably costlier than the normal coal,hydro,gas and nuclear forms of energy.Unless you are Saudi Arabia and can get oil at $4/barrel,the price of electricity from oil based energy sources is one of the costliest.Hawaii in USA pays around 30c/KwH for electricity because of the high cost of transporting and buying fossil fuels for its power plants.These islands have a huge incentive in moving towards renewable energy because it not only reduces costs,carbon emissions but also helps in energy security.Hawaii has installed a large number of wind farms,is building a big energy storage facility and promoting other alternative energy forms like solar as well.Hawaii Feed in Tariff has been implemented despite opposition by the utilities.
March 30, 2011
Solar and Wind Energy are the two most widely used forms of Renewable Energy amongst others like Geothermal,Tidal,Biomass etc.While Hydro and Nuclear Energy are also considered by some to be Alternative forms of Energy,most governments do not count these two in their renewable targets.Wind Energy has been the dominant amongst the 2 in the last 2 decades as falling prices of Wind Power has made it more widely used.However the rapidly declining costs of Solar Energy has made it the faster growing of the two with 50% annual growth being seen in the last decade.Solar Energy also has a much larger potential than any other form of Energy.However its higher costs have inhibited its growth till now,however the entry of low cost Asian producers and fast technology innovation has already brought solar power on parity with fossil fuels in some places like Italy,Turkey,Hawai etc.
March 30, 2011
Solar Roofs are a niche area but is growing in popularity with the entry of more and more companies selling products tailormade for this area.What are Solar Roofs exactly - does it mean a Roof with Solar Panels installed on it or something else.Solar Roofs are not roofs where solar electricity is generated by putting in solar mounting/racking systems and mainstream solar panels,rather they are roofs where specialized solar products called solar shingles are installed.Solar Roofs can also mean a roof where Building Integrated Photovoltaic products are installed.Some companies make BIPV products like flexible solar panels or organic/dye solar cell panels ( these are niche companies).