TOPIC 'Renewable Energy' on Sep 24, 2009 (CEST)
China Getting the Edge on Solar Energy
China has recently become the leader in developing green energy. The United States newly elected President Obama, has made statements that he wants the U.S. to become “the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy.” Unfortunately, that is not the case. China has taken the ball and run with it.
A Chinese company, Suntech Power Holdings, is trying to build market share and selling solar panels to the US for less than the actual manufacturing costs. These kinds of acts have driven the cost of solar panels down to almost half of what they were a year ago.
The Chinese companies are getting ready to build plants in the United States to produce these solar panels. They are acting fast in order to bypass the legislation that will make this impossible. The Japanese automakers had this same idea a while back, in were in America’s backyard before they knew what was happening. The Chinese want to do the same, before too much anti-Chinese mentality can happen.
President Obama’s administration is desperately trying to get the clean energy equipment manufacturers jump started. They recently announced they will give $2.3 billion in tax credits to these companies. Unfortunately, many of these companies are still have concerns about going up against a powerhouse like China. China offers a much lower cost of production than the United States.
The Chinese governments at all levels have been in a rush to get solar companies into their areas. They are offering a wide variety of perks to these companies to set up shop in their local areas. Some have been offering, extremely low rate loans to these companies. Other perks include free land, and an money for research and development. This is going to make it even tougher for the United States and Europe to compete.
China has not signed the World Trade Organization’s agreement on free trade in government procurement. The American stimulus plan specifies that any project that is receiving money to purchase materials, can only buy from countries that have signed the agreement. Suntech’s answer is to build their solar panel plant in the United States. Thus, avoiding any violation of the agreement, but allowing for the sale and purchase of Chinese products.
Jason Grace
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
