QUICK NEWS, December 5: INVESTIGATING CHINA SUN; SUPPORTING WIND; SOLAR IS SUCH A DEAL

INVESTIGATING CHINA SUN
ITC Ruling Will Initiate Complete Investigation Into Solar Disparity
Michael Bates, 2 December 2011 (Solar Industry)

"The International Trade Commission (ITC) has made a preliminary determination in its anti-dumping and countervailing-duty investigation into Chinese solar cell and module trade practices, having voted 6-0...that there is a "reasonable indication" that those practices are detrimental to the domestic solar industry.

"With this vote, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has been given the green light to continue investigating the allegedly unfair or illegal importation of Chinese crystalline-silicon photovoltaic products - namely, that cells and modules are being sold in the U.S. at prices under fair value and that the Chinese government is unfairly subsidizing its own manufacturing base."

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"Hanging in the balance of these investigations is whether anti-dumping and countervailing duties will be established to prevent Chinese anti-competitive practices and level the playing field for U.S. solar manufacturers.

"The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), led by SolarWorld Industries America Inc., filed the cases with the ITC and DOC in October…The DOC is expected to make a ruling, perhaps as soon as mid-January, regarding preliminary remedies. These remedies could include, for instance, a requirement that Chinese importers deposit estimated duties on imports they made…"


SUPPORTING WIND
Looming tax-credit expiration puts wind industry "under a dark cloud"
Mark Jaffe, December 1, 2011 (Denver Post)

"After two strong sales years,Vestas Wind Systems, which has four factories in Colorado, is bracing for the market to "fall off a cliff" if Congress fails to renew a wind-energy tax credit.

"The wind-production tax credit, or PTC, is set to expire at the end of 2012, and that could lead to as much as an 85-percent drop in wind installations…Denmark-based Vestas, the world's largest wind-turbine maker, has invested $1 billion in four plants in…[in the U.S.] and created 1,700 jobs, including suppliers…"

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"There is a lobbying effort to extend the credit, with Democratic and Republican lawmakers supporting the effort…The tax credit is equal to 2.2 cents for each kilowatt-hour generated and is the element that helps the industry with financing and competition with other types of power plants…

"…[Forecasts] for 2012 [suggest] a record 10.7 gigawatts of wind installations in 2012, and without the tax credit, that is projected to drop to 1.5 gigawatts in 2013…"


SOLAR IS SUCH A DEAL
Affordable solar: It's closer than you think; It's time to stop thinking of solar energy as a boutique source of power, says Joshua Pearce.
Marcia Goodrich, December 1, 2011 (PhysOrg)

"…[Joshua] Pearce, an associate professor of electrical engineering and materials science at Michigan Technological University…[said solar energy] is about to go mainstream…It's a matter of economics. A new analysis by Pearce and his colleagues at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, shows that solar photovoltaic systems are very close to achieving the tipping point: they can make electricity that's as cheap—sometimes cheaper—as what consumers pay their utilities.

"…First, the price of solar panels has plummeted… [in the last 2 years by] 70 percent…But more than that, the assumptions used in previous studies have not given solar an even break…To figure out the true cost of photovoltaic energy, analysts need to consider several variables, including the cost to install and maintain the system, finance charges, how long it lasts, and how much electricity it generates. Pearce and his colleagues performed an exhaustive review of the previous studies and concluded that the values given those variables were [inaccurately assessed]…"

An LCOE cited by the Pearce study as accurate - but dated (click to enlarge)

"…[M]ost analyses assume that the productivity of solar panels will drop at an annual rate of 1 percent or more…[but the new study found it is…much less, between 0.1 and 0.2 percent…[Equipment cost in 2011] is under $1 per watt for solar panels purchased in bulk on the global market, though system and installation costs vary widely. In some parts of the world, solar is already economically superior, and the study predicts that it will become increasingly attractive in more and more places…

"Based on the study, and on the fact that the cost of conventional power continues to creep upward, Pearce believes that solar energy will soon be a major player in the energy game…[when] market economics catches up…"