Earth Equity News

Germany Loses Solar Business. By Richard Carter, AFP, August 18, 2009. "Germany's solar power industry, until recently the world leader in the technology, is facing an unprecedented crisis, analysts say, outshone by cheaper competitors from Asia, most notably Chinese firms. Q-Cells, the world's biggest solar cell producer, last week issued a far from glowing set of results, with losses of 700 million euros (984 million dollars) in the first half of the year. As a result, the German firm said it would cut 500 jobs from its workforce of 2,600 and put others on part-time working arrangements. The crisis in the German solar industry is affecting small companies as well as giants such as Q-Cells. Only three months ago, start-up Sunline declared bankruptcy with the loss of all its 78 employees... Chinese solar power companies are able to produce cells much more cheaply, due to lower labor costs and also the plummeting price for silicon, the raw material for solar cell manufacture. Whereas German firms are tied in to long-term contracts for silicon deliveries, Chinese firms have been sourcing it from the spot market, where the price has dropped by around 70 percent in the past few months."