[Graeme]

Asia shows solar power not confined to rich

Solar power does not require steep subsidies to be able to push aside environment-polluting fossil fuels, says proponents of large sun-powered projects in Laos and Bangladesh.

But in large parts of emerging markets, solar power does not compete with mains electricity, because there is no grid.

In Bangladesh, where more than two out of three households cannot get electricity out of a socket, some 80,000 homes now own a basic solar panel that generates about 50 watts of power.

Only through microcredits backed by the World Bank are citizens able to afford this huge upfront investment.

The loan repayment of $9 per month is close to the cost of kerosene consumption and is often shared with neighbours who buy some of the electricity. After several years, if the loan is repaid, the panel with a 20-30 year lifespan is their own.

gulf-times

[Novus]

Solar is a lot cheaper than laying power lines all over the place and building coal plants. If we had to do it all over again the world would be solar powered. The only problem is high energy suburban developments and urban areas where 50 watts just does not cut it. There is also a silicon shortage but hopefully wind and Stirling solar generators can be built up in time. Though I do NOT see solar, wind, or anything ever solving our transport problems.

[strider3700]

50 watts of power is all the difference for people living in the a 3rd (or 4th?) World. It means a child can work into the night (with some storage) under a 20 watt bulb learning differential calculus to steal the rest of American jobs It also means the other 30 watts can keep a little food and some valuable medicine from going bad. This is the difference between life and death. On the other hand it would mean nothing to you and me.

45 watts keeps my water filtration system working. Turn off the grid and I still will have drinking water until my batteries give out in a decade or if I'm lucky 2.

[joe1347]

In the Solar Biz, China is without a doubt playing for keeps. check out this recent press release from Applied Materials. It would be interesting to know the story behind where the $250M came from.

Applied opens solar research facility in China
by Dylan McGrath, EE Times, (10/26/2009 2:53 PM EDT)

SAN FRANCISCO—Applied Materials Inc. said Monday (Oct 26) it has opened what it described as the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world in Xi’an, China.
Applied’s Solar Technology Center is comprised of laboratory and office buildings covering more than 400,000 square feet and contains an entire Applied SunFab thin film manufacturing line and a complete crystalline silicon pilot process, according to Applied (Sunnyvale, Calif.).

Applied first broke ground in Xi’an in 2006, the company said. The total investment in the multi-phase project is more than $250 million dollars, Applied said.

The facility includes a solar technology center for R&D, engineering, product demonstration, testing and training for crystalline silicon and thin film solar module manufacturing equipment and processes, Applied said. Employees in the center will work with local suppliers to test and qualify new materials and tools and evaluate potential new cost saving technologies, the company said
http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showAr ... =220900559

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/_a/applieds ... _c-si_pil/

[WyoDutch]

Maybe the new plant will be near the new Vise-Grip factory there in red china... You know... the one they built when the new owners of Vise-Grip closed operations in Dewitt, Nebraska (where the tools had been made since 1921)... fired all 300 American workers and shipped the machinery off to red china.
.
Well, I guess we can all provide internet service and fry burgers for each other in our new "service economy".

[dissident]

The service economy is pure trickle down economics (of Ronnie Ray Gun fame). Think of the outsourcing to China as merely a relocation of factories within a country that spans the globe. So instead of moving from Kentucky to Mississippi the factory owners relocated to Shanghai, let's say. The profits still come back to headquarters which are in the US and go to American banks. Of course there is wealth transfer to China as there would be to Mississippi if the regional scenario played out. Also the US government loses some tax revenue, but US corporations have been raping the US government for 40 years or more anyway (through lobbying for tax reduction and by shoving their profits in offshore accounts).

The de-industrialized US economy is something new. While cheap oil allows for global shipment of goods this racket will continue. Naturally there is a reduction in the standard of living in the US at the same time as there is a dilute increase outside its borders in places like China and India. But the owners of capital could care less for the lumpen proletariat, who are all happy with their mall shopping and multiple credit cards. I am sort of hoping that the current bursting of the credit-driven consumer economy bubble will change things but the most likely outcome is that the average consumer will get poorer while globalism keeps going until it hits the oil depletion brick wall around 2030.

[Graeme]

China’s Clean Energy May Make Wind, Solar Competitive With Coal

China’s decision to step up work in renewable energy may help make solar and wind power as cheap as coal as a fuel generating electricity, executives at a conference in Shanghai said today.

Solar projects in China are bringing closer “grid parity” where clean power costs are similar to those for fossil fuels, said Anil Srivastava, executive president for renewable energy at the French power generator Areva SA. Johnny Kwan, a senior vice president at chemical company BASF SE said China is on the way to being “the most successful low-carbon economy.”

“The biggest benefit from China is that it will get us closer to the Holy Grail,” Srivastava said at the Bloomberg Businessweek Global Green Business Summit in Shanghai. “The larger the developments that happen across the world, the closer we get to grid parity.”

bloomberg

[KarinaQ]

I figured out that the top spots of turning of China to Coal is to look for a cheaper fuel generating electricity. I think this is really a wise move that China government does. I mean if you take a look deeply on it, it is really a big step towards economic budget to address economic recession.

[americandream]

I look forward to the day when we can say that the oceans are no longer polluted with plastic ducks moulded in factories powered by fossil fuelled electricity generation but with plastic ducks moulded in factories powered by solar generation.

China’s Clean Energy May Make Wind, Solar Competitive With Coal

China’s decision to step up work in renewable energy may help make solar and wind power as cheap as coal as a fuel generating electricity, executives at a conference in Shanghai said today.

Solar projects in China are bringing closer “grid parity” where clean power costs are similar to those for fossil fuels, said Anil Srivastava, executive president for renewable energy at the French power generator Areva SA. Johnny Kwan, a senior vice president at chemical company BASF SE said China is on the way to being “the most successful low-carbon economy.”

“The biggest benefit from China is that it will get us closer to the Holy Grail,” Srivastava said at the Bloomberg Businessweek Global Green Business Summit in Shanghai. “The larger the developments that happen across the world, the closer we get to grid parity.”

bloomberg

[Plantagenet]

Evergreen Solar is closing their Massachussetts manufacturing plant and eliminating 800 US jobs.

The plant is moving to China.

Evergreen Solar fires 800 US workers, moving factory to China

What kind of #@&%#$ is this?

[dolanbaker]

China wants to be the dominant global manufacturer (period).

[Plantagenet]

China wants to be the dominant global manufacturer (period).

Of course they do. AND, they've set up economic policies that help them.

The question is ---- why the US doesn't set up economic policies that help us?.....

For instance, Evergreen got taxpayer money from both the state of Massachusetts and the Obama administration. Why didn't the Obama administration require every company that accepted taxpayer money to sign an agreement that restricted them from closing their US factory and taking the jobs overseas?

[Revi]

Evergreen's stock recently did a reverse split and is worth about $3.50. Before this it was headed to de-listing. They have been in a nosedive for a while. Why they have to cease production in Devens is probably because they were told it was the only way to stay alive.

In the interest of complete disclosure I have some stock in the company. It was worth $18 a share at one point. My broker asked me if I wanted to sell it and I said no. I learned a lesson from that. When it's up, sell!

I thought it was great to support an American company that is employing people in my region. I guess that's done now.

[Plantagenet]

Evergreen's stock recently did a reverse split and is worth about $3.50. Before this it was headed to de-listing. They have been in a nosedive for a while. Why they have to cease production in Devens is probably because they were told it was the only way to stay alive.

In the interest of complete disclosure I have some stock in the company. It was worth $18 a share at one point. My broker asked me if I wanted to sell it and I said no. I learned a lesson from that. When it's up, sell!

I thought it was great to support an American company that is employing people in my region. I guess that's done now.

I think many people are hoping that "alternative energy" companies like Evergreen Solar will succeed and create jobs for Americans. Obama himself raised expectations for this when he promised repeatedly in 2008 that he would create "millions of green jobs" and then shovelled stimulus money at alternative energy.

I'm sorry about your stock loss, but if they are going to fire all their US plant workers and move to China then I hope they go completely bankrupt. A boycot effort is beginning to get the American people to boycott Evergreen---this is an unethical company that took stimulus money and then fired their US workers and closed their US factories to move to China.

[SeaGypsy]

Someone more educated in US Corp law might be able to inform us here; but I thought it was illegal NOT to move to China if that is in the best interest of shareholder's profits?
Now that's some clever legislation for an America going down the toilet!

[Roy]

why the US doesn't set up economic policies that help us?

Good point.

The reality is that the US government sets up policies to help the people who OWN Evergreen Solar make more money (by facing lower overhead, taxes, and less regulation by moving their mfg to China), NOT the American people who WORK there.

In a nutshell that is what has enabled the massive tide of American mfg leaving for lower cost markets. Tax policies and free trade agreements.

[Revi]

Believe me those of us who "own" a piece of Evergreen Solar aren't making money, and at this rate never will. We lost money. It taught me that the stock market is a tricky place to put my retirement.

I should have bought a bunch of Evergreen solar panels and put them on my house. They would be making money for me whenever the sun was out. Stocks are for the birds!

[mos6507]

why the US doesn't set up economic policies that help us?

Good point.

The reality is that the US government sets up policies to help the people who OWN Evergreen Solar make more money (by facing lower overhead, taxes, and less regulation by moving their mfg to China), NOT the American people who WORK there.

In a nutshell that is what has enabled the massive tide of American mfg leaving for lower cost markets. Tax policies and free trade agreements.

The US government, sent to washington by voters who believe in lower regulation, the invisible hand of the free-market, and low prices.

[Lore]

So we are putting our nations investment wealth in terms of both money and technology into a country that wants to dominate us? On top of that, so they can build their military might with all that to capture and defend the needed resources for the future. How smart is that?

Listening to CNBC, they fear as does big business, that something will upset the flow of fat corporate profits at the expense of the nations labor, but in favor of the ever greedier consumer for cheap products. Ultimately a national economic death spiral.