The Swiss Solar Energy Professional Association (Swissolar) calls the government’s plans for PV “catastrophic”. Feed-in tariffs, payment duration and the separate category for integrated PV systems are on the chopping block. Still there might be some positive outcomes.
Analysts from IHS see the second quarter of 2013 as a turning point. Leading Chinese PV manufacturers have posted very positive quarterly figures and markedly improved prospects. The recovery is not expected to be short lived.
Germany added some 300 MW of new photovoltaic capacity in June, according to the German Federal Network Agency. Hence, monthly FIT reductions of 1.8% will apply for the months of August, September and October.
The bankruptcies, losses and production cuts of German photovoltaic companies show the dire state the country’s solar industry is in. An enquiry made by the Die Linke political party revealed there are only around 87,000 jobs in the PV sector and sales figures have also shrunk drastically. The ongoing EEG discussions are, however, not responsible for the turmoil, according to the federal government.
Financial experts shocked not by the Conergy insolvency but by how long it took the Hamburg company to file insolvency proceedings. The Hamburg state prosecutor had filed charges against former Conergy executives two years ago.
The management board of the inverter manufacturer for photovoltaic systems is still unable to rule out a loss for the current financial year. Thus there will presumably be further layoffs at SMA.
The Federation of German Industry (BDI) and the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) have warned of the loss of thousands of jobs in Germany if the EU Commission imposes anti-dumping duties on photovoltaic products imported from China, according to a local newspaper.
In the first three months of this year the Bosch subsidiary suffered an almost 60% decline in sales compared with 2012. EBIT loss even nearly doubled and increased to more than 16 million.
A total of 1,000 jobs are reportedly at risk at the German inverter manufacturer. SMA has not confirmed concrete figures, but it confessed that the board is evaluating such urgently needed measures.
The photovoltaic inverter manufacturer is currently searching for new business models. The firm’s chief executive, Pierre Pascal Urbon, aims to reposition SMA as an energy management company.
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