German Solar Industry Is Going Bankrupt
German solar village of Sonnenschiff, built when German solar was booming
The German solar industry is in terminal decline, the loss of generating capacity caused by the political decision to close German nuclear power stations was expected to be filled by wind and solar, but this has not happened, instead coal and gas fired power stations will replace lost nuclear capacity.
Solon who were Germany’s first photovoltaic produce have filed for insolvency with debts of 275 million euros.
A combination of cuts in Green subsidies, falling demand and China producing solar panels far cheaper have killed off the German solar industry:
Subsidies, or so-called feed-in tariffs, through which operators of solar panels receive a guaranteed price for the electricity they generate, made Germany the world’s largest solar market and had created 150,000 jobs by 2010.
But over the past two years, Germany has sharply reduced the tariffs, and a recent proposal to limit subsidies for new solar installations may seal the industry’s fate.
Now, German solar companies are either laying off staff or putting them on reduced working hours. The contrast with the broader economy is stark. Overall, German unemployment has steadily declined in recent years as Europe’s biggest economy outperforms its rivals in Europe.
Since the end of last year, roughly 5,000 companies involved in the solar business have shut up shop, shedding about 20,000 jobs, according to German solar industry group BSW.
BIGGEST CASUALTY
Berlin-based Solon (SOOG.DE), Germany’s first solar energy company to go public, said late on Tuesday it would file for insolvency, becoming Germany’s biggest casualty so far.
SMA Solar (S92G.DE), Germany’s top solar group, said last month it would lay off up to 1,000 temporary workers by the end of the year, citing weak demand for its invertors, a vital piece of equipment in solar systems.
Once again the point is proved, solar and wind are only viable when they are supported by Green taxes, FeedIn Tariffs and crony capitalism.
The mirage of Green jobs rears its ugly head again, China is already producing solar panels at far less cost than the EU can, ultimately the only jobs in the solar industry, if any, will be fitters and installers of kits made in the Far East.
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Posted on December 15, 2011, in Anthropogenic Global Warming, Church Of Climatology, Climate Change, Global Warming, Renewables and tagged Germany, Solar. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
And NOWHERE does it mention the fact that this year, we have hardly seen the sun at all in Germany, and what we have seen does not have enough strength to power the solar garden lamps for more than half an hour per day?
Something I would have thought was a pre-requesite for solar power plants. Pitty they appear not to have read the weather forecast before investing.
When I was using a small panel to keep a battery charged, I remember being told that the newer multilayer panels were some 40% more efficient on cloudy days. Unfortunately 40% of bugger all is STILL bugger all…
I fitted a digital meter to monitor the output, and even on a clear July day it never gave the claimed 15 watts, but nearer 10-12. A cloud would reduce this by half, and on an overcast winter day I was lucky to see anything at all.
Welcome to the world on insanity
Firm proof that going green is not the altruistic “doing what’s right” they believed it was, it was really all about the money.
And despite this, you can hear Greenpeace gloating about pressuring Facebook to ‘unfriend coal’ as of thursday last week and power their servers by wind and solar.
So that’ll be one less member.
Clearly there is some way to go before this obsession with squandering money on ‘clean energy’ is recognised for the farce it is.
I keep hearing an old song….. ‘Another one bites the Dust’, ditto….GTH you idiot climate tools!
Solar is just another Greenie failure.
The same things been happening here in Australia, first all the cheap and imo likely much poorer quality Chinese solar pushing out the more expensive but well made German solar. Now our state governments after artificially bumping the solar industry, are also dropping subsidies which is sending more bankrupt. Our federal governments carbon tax of $23 AUD per tonne starts next July and they plan on cheap Chinese solar whilst also selling them large amounts of our coal. Really, the only country I see benefiting from this scam is China.
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