US Solar Bankruptcies

The massive global oversupply of solar panels has led to solar panel prices plummeting to new depths. This has already led to bankruptcies of numerous solar companies around the world with some of them being erstwhile global leaders.

The carnage has not stopped as even small solar companies serving niche markets like Minnesota solar panel, company Silicon Industries has started shutting down and missing loan payments. What is surprising is that the company opened just a year ago and had a small base with just 15 employees.

A bigger New Jersey company Solar Power Industries too will be auctioning its equipments as the company fails to keep pace with the global solar industry. The 200 employee company opened shop in New Jersey in a former Sony manufacturing site. However like its bigger brothers like Solyndra, SPI has also decided to throw in the towel in the face of cutthroat competition from Chinese solar companies.

Note the anti dumping duty imposed on solar panels made in China has not helped the solar manufacturing industry in the US as Chinese solar panel companies have kept on relentlessly cutting costs and prices. The prices of the solar panel are currently at or below costs for even the lowest cost solar panel producers which means that the lower and niche players without a solid differentiation have no chance at survival.