67 replies to this topic

[stocks]

The company once hailed as Europe’s largest solar panel producer filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, blaming cheap Chinese panels for flooding the market   

 

The solar industry’s biggest problem is likely the very mechanism that led to its rise: lucrative subsidies.

 

European subsidies, mostly in Germany, led to a massive expansion of the companies green energy industry, but eventually subsidies became their undoing as cheaper solar panels from China began to win out.

 

Cuts to subsidies in Europe only made things worse for the solar industry, furthering ensuring cheap Chinese panels would win out. A similar story played out in the U.S. where lucrative federal and state subsidies spurred green energy.

 

SolarWorld has gotten a whopping $115 million in federal and state grants and tax subsidies since 2012, according to the Union-backed group Good Jobs First. And that’s on top of the nearly $91 million in federal loan guarantees the company got during that time.   

 

http://dailycaller.c...n-in-subsidies/

 

 

Solarworld lost 80 percent of its stock value after it announced bankruptcy filings Wednesday.

[diogenes227]

The company once hailed as Europe’s largest solar panel producer filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, blaming cheap Chinese panels for flooding the market   

 

The solar industry’s biggest problem is likely the very mechanism that led to its rise: lucrative subsidies.

 

European subsidies, mostly in Germany, led to a massive expansion of the companies green energy industry, but eventually subsidies became their undoing as cheaper solar panels from China began to win out.

 

Cuts to subsidies in Europe only made things worse for the solar industry, furthering ensuring cheap Chinese panels would win out. A similar story played out in the U.S. where lucrative federal and state subsidies spurred green energy.

 

SolarWorld has gotten a whopping $115 million in federal and state grants and tax subsidies since 2012, according to the Union-backed group Good Jobs First. And that’s on top of the nearly $91 million in federal loan guarantees the company got during that time.   

 

http://dailycaller.c...n-in-subsidies/

 

 

Solarworld lost 80 percent of its stock value after it announced bankruptcy filings Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

Yup cheap Chinese solar is a problem for solar companies around the world and a problem for those countries working with solar.  It appears you, here and forever, think this is a negative for solar.  It is not. Open your mind (if you have one), let the sun shine in, the net result remains more and more solar and other renewable energy everywhere, eventually at the expense of fossil fuel extractors across the globe.

 

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN COSTA RICA

 

You can rant all you want and poo-poo to your hearts content but you are on the wrong side of history and economics and fortunately for you, you will be long dead before I can say how dumb you were.  Any consolation I'll no doubt be dead too.

[diogenes227]

Kuwait, the fifth largest oil producer, begins to transition to the future.

 

Kuwait to build 1.2 solar plant

[diogenes227]

Wind power costs could drop 50%. Solar PV could provide up to 50% of global power.

New reports suggest a renewables revolution is imminent -

 

 

Oh, oh, the inevitability of it all!

 

From the link:

 

 

Solar and wind energy have been underestimated by analysts and politicians again and again and again. They have gotten cheaper and scaled up faster than even the most optimistic forecasts of a decade ago, or even a few years ago.

 

And there’s good evidence we’re still underestimating them. In fact, two new reports — one on solar, one on wind — make the point vividly. They argue that the radical trends of the last decade are going to continue, which is all that needs to happen for the energy system to tip over from disruption into revolution.

[Rogerdodger]

I Tried to Make My Home Energy Efficient and It's Ruining My Life

“This is the next subprime crisis,” said Anne Richardson of Los Angeles-based Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm. “It’s a frightening development.”

 

“You can go solar right now,” President Obama, a longtime PACE booster, said last year. “And in the process, you can help America lead the world in the fight against climate change and for a cleaner, safer planet for our kids.”

The Obama administration blessed the concept, injected $150 million in stimulus funds for startup costs.

Using hard-sell tactics promising increased home values, lower energy bills, and massive tax benefits, contractors approve tens of thousands of dollars in work in a couple hours, lawyers and homeowners allege. “They’re targeting a very vulnerable group with excellent salespeople who know how to pitch it,” said Carolyn Reilly of Elder Law & Advocacy in San Diego. “They’re just plain lied to by the masters.”

Victims complain of shoddy workmanship, overcharges, and add-ons that have little to do with clean energy. They often have no idea what they owe until receiving an exorbitant property tax bill. Lack of payment can lead to foreclosure. And it’s happening without oversight from the federal agency that’s supposed to protect consumers from financial scams

[diogenes227]

Apple's Global Facilities Are All On 100% Clean Energy

 

From the Link:

 

Last week, Apple called out the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rollback the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The company cited both the obvious environmental impact of such a move, along with potential economic fallout.

It turns out Apple’s got quite a bit invested in the latter.  The company announced today that its global facilities are now 100-percent run by renewable energy.

 

The move is in line with the company’s 2015 plan to push toward 100-percent renewable energy, a list that includes all of Apple’s data centers as of 2014. As of today, the company’s officially adding retail stores, offices and co-located facilities to that list, covering 43 countries, including the US, China, UK and India.

 

The addition of nine manufacturing partners, meanwhile, brings the total number up to 23 suppliers promising to produce their products entirely with clean energy. How the companies involved actually hit these numbers is, unsurprisingly, somewhat more complex.

 

[stocks]

UK solar “farms” collect more taxpayer funds than sunlight

 

You may have thought that solar panels were designed to collect sunlight and convert it to electricity. But obviously the real aim of solar industrial plants is to attract government handouts and convert them into yachts.

  Solar farms receive more cash from green subsidies than selling the energy they produce
 

 

Energy producers were encouraged to start solar farms with generous handouts funded by a ‘green levy’ on taxpayers’ bills.

But many of them now make the majority of their cash from the subsidy – instead of the electricity they produce.

 

Owl Hatch is the largest solar subsidy farm in the UK, harvesting £3.8million from captive UK taxpayers which allowed it to sell £2.5million of electricity. 

 

[diogenes227]

Australians could save $20 billion per year on a run to the sun

 

 

A total shift to renewable energy would pay for itself through cost savings within two decades, and ultimately save Australians $20bn a year in combined fuel and power costs, a new report says.

 

The report, released on Thursday morning, outlines a path to powering homes and businesses from renewable sources by 2030. By 2035, 40% of transport could be emissions free, it says.