Solar business from Korea

The arrival of the feed-in tariff (FiT) was a much-anticipated one, something that would boost the solar sector and give countries around the globe the incentive they needed to convert from conventional energy sources into the renewable sector. No one could have predicted the upheaval that could have been brought with this seemingly positive move. Spain The first and most prominent downfall came in the shape of Spain. It introduced its generous FiT rate of up to €0.44/kWh back in 2007 when the government expected a steady stream of investment. In response, there came a flood. The country was left accounting for more than 40% of the world's total solar installations in 2008. This huge uptake gave the powers-that-be no choice but to revise the FiT rate, causing Spain to became one of the principal causes of the downturn in the solar industry. Some might say that the evident success stories of other countries like Germany caused a trend to be set for others. Yet in their infancy, unre...

A new report from market research firm, IC Insights highlights the expected recovery in capital spending within the photovoltaics industry as the market recovers over the next few years. The market research firm claims that spending on manufacturing plants, equipment and materials in both the crystalline (c-Si) and thin film sectors has not declined as much as PV manufacturers had wanted in light of the slump in demand and difficult financial conditions, restricting project finance for solar installations. IC Insights said in the report that it was late in 2008 that major PV manufacturers started to make capital spending cuts as the scale of the decline in demand became clear. Although many significantly reduced spending budgets for 2009 compared to 2008, long-lead times and previously planned expansions already taking place meant that many manufacturers could not abruptly halt all expenditures. Although 2008 was a record year for PV installations, production capacity was already growi...