Big Solar: The Sun’s Rising Power
Chinese manufacturing power, falling prices, and technology breakthroughs have transformed the solar industry from a green niche into a mushrooming market.
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Solar power is the source of nearly all our energy. New technologies allow to harness it with growing efficiency (Photo: Reuters) |
“The Sun Always Shines on TV”, a famous Europop song in the 1980s, could be re-released for the 21st century, just slightly modified: nowadays, the sun always shines on PV.
Photovoltaic solar panels have become a symbol of renewable energy and a greener future – unfortunately, they still represent less than 0.1 percent of global energy production.
But growth is tremendous. Solar capacity in Germany, the world’s leading PV nation, will double in 2010 from 10GW to 20 GW, estimates the Swiss bank UBS. And despite Germany’s moderate climate, these solar panels do already produce massive amounts of electricity.
Figures from the European Energy Exchange show that solar power accounted for 10 percent of Germany’s electricity consumption during midday peak load on more than ten days in July 2010producing some 7GWh of solar power, comparable to the power output of seven nuclear power plants.
Falling prices have been one reason for this explosive growth. Chinese companies have entered the solar panel market and gained a market share of more than 50 percent.
Priceless competition
Cheap Chinese manufacturing and massive governmental subsidies have more than halved prices for solar panels since 2008. Shi Zhengrong, CEO of one of China’s biggest solar panel manufacturers, Suntech Power Holdings, even massive state subsidies in many European countries like Germany, Italy, or Spain have created a huge market. European companies, once market leaders, are struggling, but consumers have happily bought into the price slump.
But growing competition and state subsidies aren’t the only driving forces behind the current solar boom. Technological advances are equally important. While most established European companies see their market shares melt away, America’s First Solar managed to nearly double its share in 2009.
The company’s secret: cheaper technology. First Solar’s thin cadmium telluride panels are less efficient than traditional silicon-based panels, but the Arizona based company has managed to produce them at significantly lower costs.
