GE's Colorado solar plant delayed 18 months
Global price collapse and oversupply cited
GE Energy is putting a solar manufacturing plant in Colorado hold for at least 18 months and instead concentrating on research and development. It has also confirmed layoffs at an existing solar subsidiary due to a collapse in global solar module prices.
In October 2011 GE said it was converting a large warehouse it acquired in Aurora, Colo., into a manufacturing plant for its PrimeStar Solar unit, which it had acquired earlier in the year. The plant was to open in 2013 and employ up to 355, with an annual manufacturing capacity of 400 MW of solar panels. It was announced as the largest panel manufacturing facility in the U.S. Aravada, Colo.-based PrimeStar developed its solar energy technology in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden. Colo.
But the global solar panel industry has experienced a sever shake-out in recent months with a spate of bankruptcies and closures.
“Over the past six months the industry has shifted rapidly, resulting in a nearly 50% drop in global module prices due to overcapacity and declining incentives. Given these dynamics, we are putting the build-out of our Aurora, Colo. plant on pause for at least 18-months and focusing our efforts to develop the next generation of solar module technology. This technology will reach a far higher efficiency level and more competitive cost position, and will require modifications to the plant design currently underway,” GE Power & Water Spokeswoman Lindsay Theile said.
GE also said it was downsizing its solar employment numbers to keep costs down and remain competitive. It would not disclose the number of layoffs.
The spokeswoman said the company remains “committed to solar” and is still installing a 23-MW project with Invenergy in Grand Ridge, Ill.
“We continue to invest millions of dollars and conduct more than 600 experiments each week in our research labs to reach the higher efficiency level required of our next gen technology. We look forward to realizing the breakthroughs our investments will yield,” the statement concluded.
Comments
NM PRC commissioner on Schott solar closure
Hi Bill, Jason A. Marks commented on your link.
Jason wrote: "Schott Solar's closing, like the troubles facing other US solar manufacturing plants (eg, Solyndra) have much more to do with broader US trade and manufacturing dynamics than they have to do with solar or renewable energy factors. Solar and other forms of renewable energy are alive and well in New Mexico and the U.S. We've got about 170 MW of solar generation in operation today in New Mexico, producing enough electricity to power 150,000 homes during daylight hours. (NM was ranked #1 nationally in solar electric generating watts installed per capita for 2011!!) But, as solar panels have become a low-cost commodity, we have found that US solar panel manufacturing no better at matching the low prices of Chinese manufacturing than we are in other areas of electronics manufacturing (go to Wallmart or Best Buy and try to find home electronics made in the USA). Politicos like Richardson and Obama tried to overcome Chinese labor cost advantages through subsidies like Schott and Solyndra received. This was theoretically possible, because even though Chinese labor costs per hour are much lower, US workers are actually a lot more productive. But what happened was that the Chinese government gave its solar industry their own subsidies, in most cases a lot more than Washington and Santa Fe were doling out. So in the end, plants like Schott were undercut by the govt-supported Chinese panel manufacturers."
http://www.prosefights.org/nmgco/intervene/hearing/hearing#fitzpatrick