Solar Stocks Slipping
Solar Stocks Significantly Underperformed the Broader Market in June. The Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) decreased 8.2% vs. the S&P 500 and Dow down 0.6% and 1.5%, respectively. The general investor sentiment around the solar industry is very negative due to the shocking policy change in China. Pricing is on the decline. Polysilicon pricing appears to […]
Bad for the industry – but unfortunately, awesome.
Taken from a song by beloved German group Deichkind, the phrase ‘leider geil’, roughly translated as ‘unfortunately awesome’, applies quite nicely, in my view at least, to the current downward spiral of module and cell prices. Of course, it is clear that some companies – especially module producers – will again fall by the wayside. […]
Tech upgrades on the back of a downturn
The May 31st announcement by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and National Energy Administration of China, states that there will be temporarily suspended arrangements for utility scale PV plants in 2018 target, anda cap on distributed generation (DG) at 10 GW in the entire year. The notice also reduces the PV FIT by CNY 0.05 starting May 31. The sudden notification has severely impacted China’s PV demand.
Floating PV reaches the surface
Until recently, the market for floating solar systems have been available for more than a decade, but the market has until recently been limited to small and moderate size installations in a few countries. In 2017, this changed, as 390 MW of new floating PV systems were installed worldwide, mainly as part of the Top Runner Program in China.
The darkest hour before the dawn
China’s May 31 solar policy changes sent reverberations through the global PV industry. Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai on the 31/5 policy, its forecast impact, drivers, and the 11th hour efforts to avert what some describe as a “car crash” of a policy shift.
The signs were there
China’s recent solar notice resulted in considerable consequences for the world’s largest solar PV market. While the news seemed sudden, the signs were there although no one paid them enough attention. On the back of the changes, AECEA not only lowered its annual demand forecasts, but also those for the remaining years of the 13th Five-Year-Plan period.
Survival of the biggest
After a strong year in 2017, many of China’s PV manufacturers announced investments into major capacity expansions, expecting future demand to keep growing. China’s May 31 announcement, however, is set to slash demand for 2018.
China’s Global Power Play
With all the uproar in China about the impact of the June 1st “2018 Solar PV Power Generation Notice” issued by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), National Energy Administration (NEA) and Ministry of Finance (MOF), one could think that China’s government has lost faith in solar PV’s potential to contribute to China’s historic shift from coal-fired power to clean renewable energy sources. But nothing could be further from the truth.
California’s solar and wind integration challenge
As a leader in the global energy transition, California is putting some of the highest levels of solar and wind on its grid in the world to date. And while the state’s grid operator has made some progress, the integration of these resources is currently limited not by physics, but by market rules and operational practices.
Cryptos & watts – good bedfellows
Last year, blockchain stole the show in the digital assets ecosystem, showcasing a myriad of ways to revolutionize energy infrastructures. The sector has been exploring the software’s potential to securely track and exchange data. In 2018, SolarCoin and P2P energy trading platforms are some of the blockchain applications energy players will be keeping a close eye on.
