Finance

On the back of photovoltaic tariffs for Chinese manufacturers exporting modules into the U.S., expectations were that the Chinese market would become a substitute for its domestic manufacturers. However, judging by Q3 shipment estimates, the market has not quite taken off as some had predicted. Robert Dydo, CEO-Editor SolarPVInvestor and Jason Tsai, chief analyst Solarzoom PV Research Center discuss.

The power of governmental legislation in driving solar stocks was again brought to the fore this week, as prices rose sharply on the back of favorable information coming from Asia.

A tough month on global financial markets, with the main U.S. indices posting losses of around six percent and Europe, fairing a little worse, was exacerbated for solar stocks, as key governmental decisions impacted upon prices.

After a positive start to 2012, solar stocks have given back most of their gains as bad figures coming out of China lead to some significant losses.

After the recent announcement of the radical changes to the feed-in tariffs (FITs) in Germany, solar stocks are showing a stark downward trend.

Solar stocks around the world have risen after Winfried Kretschmann became the first regional Green Party president in German history. In an interview with pv magazine Wolfgang Seeliger speaks about the country’s political influence on the rest of the world, as well as what the win could mean for PV.

Following the explosions at several of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plants, and the uncertainty surrounding their safe shutdown, global calls for renewable energy to replace nuclear have been made. Solar stocks have also profited.