During the Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night, there appeared a few documents that were not given to us last week. If you downloaded the packet before the meeting, please check back to the post and download the added material that was posted today. It is regarding information from the Public Safety Committee, and information regarding Disposal of Tax Foreclosed County-Owned Property.
A few headlines caught my eye Tuesday regarding solar energy. As you know, Semprius is working on a new facility in Vance County to bring in eventually about 250 jobs to the area, so I thought I’d post some latest thoughts in that field. Starting with a disappointing note: Most of the biggest solar-equipment makers may disappear in the next few years as plunging prices erode margins and drive the weakest out of business, according to Jifan Gao of Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL), the fifth-largest supplier of solar panels. Gao, who founded Trina in 1997, predicted that only about five companies may survive through 2020 in each of the three major manufacturing segments. He defined those as photovoltaic panels, ingots and wafers, and the raw material polysilicon. Source
However, that’s good news for Semprius, as the photovoltaic panels are what they are focusing on. Siemens AG Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher is lamenting recent purchases for other solar companies that are producing solar thermal plants. However, Siemens recent investment in Semprius is seen as a good investment. The article states Michael Suess, the head of Siemens’s entire energy portfolio, told journalists last month that photovoltaic power may become a bigger market than solar thermal, which he said has failed to meet expectations. Siemens entered photovoltaic production in June with the purchase of a stake in Semprius Inc., a U.S. maker of solar modules. Source
The issue is that with more companies making the panels, the supply is increasing, technology is increasing, and the panels are becoming cheaper. Great for consumers. But spelling trouble for investors looking to see a return. “In fact,” Paul Krugman writes, “progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, ‘there’s now frequent talk of a Moore’s law in solar energy,’ with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.” Source
The sweet spot for solar panels is thought to be around 50 cents per watt. The International Energy Agency projects that solar could provide more than half of the world’s energy needs by 2060 if costs fell to $100 per megawatt hour — around 50 cents per watt installed. (At the moment, solar panels are gunning for the $1-per-watt threshold.) However, I’m already finding panels for as low at 78 cents a watt.
I hope that our local branch can ramp up production quickly, the area desperately needs those 250 jobs. Even though it may take a few years to get to that point. \
What’s the latest news in your industry?