No, really;
Record demand for solar equipment and a shortage of polysilicon, the key ingredient for PV panels, led companies worldwide to rapidly expand their facilities just before the global financial crisis cratered demand for new clean energy installations. As a result, prices for polysilicon, PV and thin-film solar panels have plummeted, and many experts say the industry is now in the midst of an upheaval as weaker firms close or sell off major chunks of their operations to stay alive.
What would we do without research firms?
But while companies struggle with a glut of manufacturing capacity and unsold equipment, at least one research firm still sees capacity growing strongly and not slowing down or shrinking. It remains confident that firms will continue to bet big on government stimulus programs, the push for action on climate change and a bounce in demand responding to fallen prices.
In other words, they’re “confident” that the benefits of a weak economy can rescue them from the consequences of a weak economy.
Beauty.
Why can’t they do what everyone else does, develop a good business model that survives and thrives in both good and bad times. That’s what I had to do.
I should make a “giant mirror” business and call it “small dead solar panels”.
Hi Kate How Do I Get My Name Off Of The Blog.
Hmmm, what they are really saying is;
They bet gov’ts will continue tosupport the scam.
They bet global warming willcontinue.
They bet voters will continue to buy thehoax.
They bet CO2 will continue to be seen as thevillain.
Or a case of all bets are off?
The ones doing the pushing on my behalf will be voted out of office.
I, for one, support this project, because of the jobs it will bring and the research it will . . . . . . . . . oh forget it – the truth is I bought a solar panel manufacturer near its peak, and want to see a bit of pump so I can dump!!!!!
And therein lies the answer to the question: “Why does Richard drink so much?”… Good Grief… I’m goin’ Galt… frig ’em all…
Erik.. not too soon to go into the Lithium boom and bust. I’ll stick with ECA, CNQ and WFT. Got new shingles to pay for before they go down again.
“Confident of stimulus” = “Certain of pork”.
The “experts” and their “professional” journalist friends trying to foster political clout to make sure government delivers the pork.
This kind of political leverage is based on the premise that people are afraid to hold an opinion that (superficially) seems to be orthagonal to the general population. A fear of being different. A fear of not being “in the herd”.
News flash to our “professional” journalist friends out there: you no longer own a monopoly on mindset. And, oh, by the way, the premise on which you operate when editorializing the “news”, is a huge insult to your customers. I’ve never seen one business, ever, succeed when it insults, or holds in very low regard its customers.
The blogosphere is where people wake up and discover that they can indeed develop informed opinion that is now more often completely different than that editorial “news” content.
When are “professional” journalists ever going to get it? When are “professional” journalists ever going to stop trying to make economic water flow uphill?
I don’t waste my time on your product, and therefore, money spent advertising in your media is wasted on me.
Besides, advertising creates demand for stuff that people don’t really need – creates the consumer society that you “professional” journalists so like to denigrate. I strongly suggest that you “professional” journalists get on board with the Kyoto equivalent in advertising, and support imposing a significant tax on advertising in mass media. That will level the playing field with those victim countries, won’t it?
Anyway, what’s an “expert” without a podium?
In physics, only idiots think that there exists such a thing as a perpetual motion or Free Energy machine.
In Economics, only socialists think there exists such a thing as a perpetual gov’t economy or Free Money Economy.
Are the two correlated in any way, maybe not, but I will take the bet that we will see the former before the latter.
And thus “betting big” on gov’t intervention to drive your product sales* is a very idiotic thing to do.
* unless of course, you sell bulldozers in ChavezLand!
just to be clear…for the sake of some lefties who read this
Free Money as in it comes from a gov’t press,
NOT to be confused with Free Market
What is wrong with you people? Don’t you know that Global
Warming can be felt?
By the way, Senator Stabenow is an advocate of the “Fairness” Doctrine, and just happens to be married to an executive of left-wing talk radio.
Everything old is new again.
Way back when, an out of province aluminum window company showed up in the east coast backwoods where I then hung my hat and got so busy so quickly they opened a small factory employing a few dozen people to supply the local market. The local crowd having neglected to horn in on this goldmine at the start, betook themselves to the provincial capital and on a time line dependent on their political clout, quickly or eventually got government “Business Development/Employment Assistance Loans” to get into the window making and installing business. The sole TV and local radio station were soon choked with commercials for the various franchisee’s aluminum window products and this went on for about a year, then saturation showed up and they all went bust. Needless to say, the taxpayer got hosed.
In Economics, only socialists think there exists such a thing as a perpetual gov’t economy or Free Money Economy.
True. And there are plenty who vote Conservative/SK Party. For the last 30 years plus, the rural welfare bum faction has been correct in that free money assessment.
I, for one, am pleased that the price of solar panels will go down (like the price of gas this summer). I need a new panel on my sailboat to charge the battery. Dang extension cords don’t come long enough.
While I welcome technical research, the point where research is an industry itself nullifies the whole purpose. Kind of like that chewing gum commercial where the gum company realizes that their gum lasts so long people don’t have to buy as often and the company isn’t selling as much. Cute commercial but there is a ring of truth in the concept.
The solar panel industry is a solution in search of a problem. As I’ve noted here before, when you go to Arizona and drive around the Valley of the Sun where Phoenix and Tucson are, even in isolated locations you don’t see solar panels much.
Not photovoltaic, not water heaters, not even pool heaters. It isn’t economically feasible, not even in the sunniest place in the Western hemisphere.
EXCEPT for things like battery chargers, as Texas Canuck says. Also remote location cell phone service, temperature sensor stations, WiFi, radio substations, etc. Things that are off the grid and don’t draw very much power, or need battery backup that is not grid dependent.
For primary power generation its a friggin’ pipe dream, and all these companies know it. They exist to soak up the pork fat dripping from that big bacon sandwich in Washington.
As to the stock market, my money says she’s going to tank again Real Soon, probably not quite as bad as February. Probably when Congress resumes session and the idiots do something astoundingly stupid, like ram through single payer health care and carbon cap’n trade.
Phantom:
I wonder if it’ll be racist to oppose Obama on cap and trade.
syf, are you kidding me? It’ll be racist to be white!
Meanwhile, gun and ammo sales remain brisk. Buy stock in S&W, Glock, Remington…
See, this is where Obama is like Hitler but dumber. Adolf had the benefit of a proper education, he knew to do the gun control first. -Then- you let the old and the crippled starve. Barry’s a typical Liberal, cart before the horse every time.
[quote]For primary power generation its a friggin’ pipe dream, and all these companies know it. They exist to soak up the pork fat dripping from that big bacon sandwich in Washington.[/quote] The phantom
Well said… I would guess that most engineers are still taught the linier load balancing methodology of current leading voltage… etc (simple stuff). It would be an eye opener for them to look on a line scope for the fundamental (60 cycle) waveform of a modern facility loaded with switching Power supplies. The loading results in an extremely complex power factor and you won’t even “see” the fundamental without digital filtering
It would be interesting to get an Engineering tour of an energy generating facility. PSE&G (US) or Sask Power and see what the “Supply” side looks like and how they handle/evaluate grid loads
Invasion of the continental USA is not possible or practical….an invading force would face a rifle behind every blade of grass.
Naval Marshal General Isoroku Yamamoto
Phillip, I just imagine the difference between generators driven by fossil fuel (or nuclear) and solar or wind driven. I imagine the carefully tended steam plan spinning up some generators and letting others spin downin a carefully controlled, planned sequence so as to keep the power constant.
Then I imagine the power fluctuation when a cloud passes over ten acres of solar panel. Or the major hit that happens when the sun comes up. Or goes down. Every frickin’ day. And I imagine the thermal loading changing from hot to cold to hot on all that wire. And all those connections.
How are you going to buffer that? Capacitors? Going to be one hell of a capacitor bank, eh?
Then there’s the extra capacity you’ll need to smooth out the bumps when your green stuff is off-line due to weather.
Madness.
All I have to say to this is Jesus Christ. How the hell this isn’t front page news is incredible.
This is how civilizations die. One group of fools after another.
Well if you could see the solar farm in Sarnia you would soon realize that money falls out of trees for some ideas.
Opti Solar which started the solar farm is broke and a new company has decided to change over all the solar panels to their own design. The rest of the info I have is coffee shop talk but if half of it is true someone should be hung out to dry.
rev dream. yep.