Solar ♦ news digest
in the industry position solar at the threshold of the mainstream energy markets, and we are well- positioned to capitalize on that opportunity.”
Hughes has nearly 20 years of experience in the global energy industry. Before joining First Solar, he served as the CEO of AEI, which owned and operated power distribution, conventional and renewable power generation, natural gas transportation and natural gas distribution businesses in 19 countries. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer for Prisma Energy.
Hughes earned a juris doctor from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, a Certificate of Completion in international business law from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University.
Is the Chinese government monopolising the solar market illegally
Yes, according to U.S. firm Wiley Rein LLP. A new Five-Year Plan for solar is calling for escalation in Chinese government sponsorship of export- intensive, price-subsidised trade central planning Wiley Rein LLP says an array of illegal subsidies have enabled China’s state-sponsored solar industry to seize more than half of U.S. and world market share at the expense of U.S. companies and jobs. Now the government of China has issued a new “Five-Year Plan” for the solar industry. It provides for even greater government control and support of the solar industry, according to an analysis commissioned by the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM).
The plan to fuel China’s export-intensive solar- industry campaign calls for a number of government initiatives, including new policy, financial and price subsidies. These moves are intended to offer more support in industry, financial and tax policy and further aid the development and production of equipment used to produce polysilicon, silicon ingots, wafers, cells and panels within the crystalline-silicon solar industry.
What’s more, the portfolio includes plans to support industrialisation of China’s as yet undeveloped thin-film industry, specifically harnessing silicon and CIGS solar technologies. The analysis was conducted by Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, D.C.
It focused on China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for the Solar Photovoltaic Industry, issued in February 2012 to expand on China’s broader 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Wiley Rein is representing CASM, a coalition of more than 190 employers representing over 16,000 Americans, in advancing trade cases against the Chinese solar manufacturing industry. In a partial preliminary determination in March, the Department of Commerce announced that at least ten categories of Chinese subsidies for its producers of solar cells and panels were illegal. “These plans significantly increase the government’s control over the development of the solar industry, permitting the government to manage virtually every aspect of the industry,” the analysis says. “Substantial government assistance is also mandated to carry out the goals identified in these plans.” As in previous iterations, the plans designate solar among seven “strategic emerging industries” that warrant massive government support, preferential treatment and tight control, according to the analysis. News reports put total subsidies for all seven industries at $1.5 trillion.
The recently published solar plan, which covers the period up to 2016 reflects the Chinese government’s resolve to ensure the industry’s continued rapid development by directly managing its planning, policy and growth. In addition, according to the analysis, the solar Five-Year Plan calls for the Chinese industry’s continued global expansion and “internationalisation” in keeping with China’s “Going Abroad” strategy. China has amassed production capacity that is 32 times greater than domestic demand, resulting in about 95 percent of Chinese solar production being exported overseas.
CASM contends that China’s illegal subsidisation of its export drive has enabled its industry to dump product in the U.S. market and unfairly capture market share since 2008. During the same period, the number of China’s solar manufacturers listed among the world’s ten largest has rocketed from just one to seven in 2011. Meanwhile, at least twelve crystalline silicon U.S. manufacturers have
June 2012
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 87
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105