SolarIndiaOnline.com

CEO roundtable on the theme “Financing renewable energy projects, current experience, challenges and roadmap for the future” was organized as part of the 3rd Renewable Energy India Expo 2009. The roundtable saw participation from senior leaders from the industry and was moderated by Mr Kuljeet Singh, Partner, Ernst & Young. Mr. Singh set the tone of the discussion by highlighting the key drivers and challenges faced by different segments of the renewable energy space viz wind, solar, etc. As per him, the key drivers for solar industry are favorable geographical location of India and government initiatives taken in … Continue Reading

German solar companies Conergy AG and Solarworld AG want their government and the European Union to discourage renewable energy investors from buying Chinese panels and cells they say receive improper support. Chinese prices “border on dumping” and those levels are impossible to maintain without state aid, Dieter Ammer, chief executive officer of Conergy, was cited as saying in Handelsblatt today. Alexander Leinhos, a company spokesman, confirmed the comments. The EU should implement import tariffs to protect its solar industry, Ammer added. Prices and demand for solar products have dropped this year as recession-struck photovoltaic power plant builders struggle … Continue Reading

For Trina Solar (TSL), it won’t be long before its solar panel manufacturing costs will fall enough to become comparable to the industry low-cost leader, First Solar (FSLR).”Next year, our cost reduction roadmap will allow us to compete with First Solar in the balance of system level, so that module wise we will compete with them some time next year,” said Terry Wang, Trina’s chief financial officer, in a conference call to discuss the company’s earnings late Monday.Wang’s comment came as the company returned to profit in the second quarter. Trina posted a net income of $18.9 million, … Continue Reading

A steep fall in the price of solar panels has chipped away at manufacturers’ profits this year, and relief is unlikely to come soon, as many in the industry believe pressure will intensify and push prices even lower into 2010 and perhaps even 2011.Global demand for solar power soared last year until a pullback in solar incentives in Spain and a credit crisis that stifled financing for new projects led to a falloff in demand for solar panels and a global supply glut.In turn, solar companies worldwide — including heavyweights like China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, U.S.-based … Continue Reading

ET Solar Group Corp. (”ET Solar”), a Nanjing-based integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (“PV”) products (ingot, wafer, modules and tracking systems) and system integrator announced a 1MW high efficiency module supply transaction to a large system integrator for an Indian project. The project, developed by a commercial and utility solar project developer in India, is so far one of the largest on-grid solar farms in the Indian subcontinent. Shipment was completed in July and more sizeable volumes are being planned for. According to Indian government’s 11th five-year plan, the nation is targeting at a 20% of electricity generation … Continue Reading