SolarWorld gone under

[readiescards]

Bugger:

https://www.solarworld-uk.co.uk/the-company/press/current-news/news-detail/article/solarworld-ag-insolvency/

Guess that is my 10 year warranty reduced to zilch

[Barney12]

Alas in the renewable energy market it's a trend that's very likely to continue.

[Ferdinand]

39 minutes ago, readiescards said:

Bugger:

https://www.solarworld-uk.co.uk/the-company/press/current-news/news-detail/article/solarworld-ag-insolvency/

Guess that is my 10 year warranty reduced to zilch

 

Is the warranty perhaps insurance based?

 

(Hopefully ... Solarworld are huge if it is part of the German one).

Edited May 11, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Jeremy Harris]

Solarworld have been in serious trouble for a fair time now, so this was pretty much inevitable.  Given that the EU imposed hefty tariffs on Chinese PV panels, in order to help prop up German PV companies like Solarworld, you have to question whether interfering in a free market makes sense, when some countries are always going to have higher manufacturing costs, because of their labour rates.

 

Perhaps we'll see the tariffs come off PV panels now.  Could make a significant difference.  I'm not sure what the current duty on Chinese panels is, but a while ago it was over 40%, I believe. 

Edited May 11, 2017 by JSHarris

[readiescards]

Hurrah my warranty is underwritten by Chubb ?

[volcane]

A 40% reduction in cost could bring PV panels into consideration for my project.

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

Perhaps we'll see the tariffs come off PV panels now.  Could make a significant difference.  I'm not sure what the current duty on Chinese panels is, but a while ago it was over 40%, I believe. 

 

Had a quick google and found this:

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=909

" This decision follows a thorough and serious investigation and extended contacts with market players. As the market for and imports of solar panels in the EU is very large, it is important for this duty not to disrupt it. Therefore, a phased approach will be followed with the duty set at 11.8% until 6 August 2013. From August on the duty will be set at the level of 47.6% which is the level required to remove the harm caused by the dumping to the European industry. "

 

So almost 50% extra taxation, but has been in operation for nearly 4 years.

 

I also had a look on the WTO database but could not quickly find PV, but would be interesting to see what the default tariff is.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by SteamyTea

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, volcane said:

A 40% reduction in cost could bring PV panels into consideration for my project.

That tariff is presumably on just the physical product, though.

[Jeremy Harris]

Yes, it's a tariff on the wholesale cost of imported Chinese panels, so the impact on the end user will be a lot less, perhaps around 10% or so for an MCS installation.  However, the removal of this tariff could bring down the cost of panels for those looking to install a DIY system by a fair bit more.

[AliG]

Just about to order my PV system. They want to use Solarworld. If the warranty is insurance backed, can anyone think of a reason not to use them?

[readiescards]

Shipment begins again:

 

https://www.pv-tech.org/news/solarworld-looking-for-new-investor-as-shipments-re-start