Russ Steele
This New York Times article: China Snaps Up California Solar Market was brought to my attention by a regular reader and commenter on this blog. Nevada City has been touted as one of the most solar powered city in the state, and "going solar" is often mentioned at every Economic Resource Council public meeting, suggesting that Nevada County would be a good place for a solar manufacturing facility. But, read on!
With Chinese companies subject to the vagaries of United States-China trade relations, both Suntech and Yingli have moved in recent months to locate manufacturing plants in the Southwest, close to the California market.
Doing some checking, Suntech chose Arizona for it first US manufacturing plant. If the market is in California why choose Arizona? Yingli has yet to choose it's first US manufacturing location, but it may not be looking for a location in California where the largest market is. Why? What is the attraction of the Southwest over California?
If Yingli does not choose California, then someone needs to ask the Governor why the two largest solar manufactures have ignored California as the best location to make solar panels? After all, if California is the largest market, why not manufacture the solar panels in the state. I think the answer will be most instructive, highlighting California's regulator barriers to new green industries, making promise of green jobs a modern day myth.
H/T to Sean Wise
This New York Times article: China Snaps Up California Solar Market was brought to my attention by a regular reader and commenter on this blog. Nevada City has been touted as one of the most solar powered city in the state, and "going solar" is often mentioned at every Economic Resource Council public meeting, suggesting that Nevada County would be a good place for a solar manufacturing facility. But, read on!
China’s rise as a major solar module maker has been meteoric, but perhaps nowhere has its ascension been faster than in California, the United States’ largest solar market.
You can read the rest of the article here, but this was the paragraph that caught my attention.
The Chinese company Yingli Solar has captured 27 percent of California’s solar market, according to a preliminary report.
Over the last three years, China’s share of the California market, in terms of supplied megawatts, has risen to 46 percent, from 2 percent, according to a preliminary report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research and consulting firm.
At the same time, the share supplied in California by American companies has declined to 16 percent, from 43 percent.
“The ascendancy of Chinese manufacturers would be noteworthy regardless of market conditions, but is particularly telling in a time when purse-strings are still tight,” the report said.
At the beginning of 2009, Chinese solar companies supplied 21 percent of the market; by year’s end their stake had more than doubled.
With Chinese companies subject to the vagaries of United States-China trade relations, both Suntech and Yingli have moved in recent months to locate manufacturing plants in the Southwest, close to the California market.
Doing some checking, Suntech chose Arizona for it first US manufacturing plant. If the market is in California why choose Arizona? Yingli has yet to choose it's first US manufacturing location, but it may not be looking for a location in California where the largest market is. Why? What is the attraction of the Southwest over California?
If Yingli does not choose California, then someone needs to ask the Governor why the two largest solar manufactures have ignored California as the best location to make solar panels? After all, if California is the largest market, why not manufacture the solar panels in the state. I think the answer will be most instructive, highlighting California's regulator barriers to new green industries, making promise of green jobs a modern day myth.
H/T to Sean Wise
