301 Moved Permanently
India Investigating
Imports From U.S.
Shortly after the completion of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s investigation into Chinese solar exports, the U.S. now finds itself involved in another global solar trade conflict.
India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry has officially launched an anti-dumping investigation into photovoltaic cells exported into India from the U.S. Exports from China, Malaysia and Taiwan will also be subject to the investigation.
A coalition of India-based PV manufacturers, including Indosolar Ltd., Jupiter Solar Power Ltd. and Websol Energy Systems Ltd., filed the initial anti-dumping complaint, alleging that the “subject goods are being dumped into the Indian market by the exporters from the subject countries,” according to official documents.
John Smirnow, vice president of trade and competitiveness at the Solar Energy Industries Association, says the news of the investigation is unsurprising, given that India’s trade association has long been “publicly critical” of imports from the U.S. The Indian group filed its petition several months ago.
India’s solar trade probe joins several other pending investigations around the world, including two separate module-dumping cases filed by SolarWorld-led European group EU ProSun against China, as well as an investigation by China’s Ministry of Commerce into alleged solar polysilicon dumping by the U.S. and South Korea.
“Often, when you have global overcapacity for modules, you see many of these cases being filed,” Smirnow notes.
Notably, unlike the trade investigations initiated in the U.S. and Europe, India’s case includes not only crystalline silicon solar products but also thin-film products. In fact, the usage of thin-film modules from Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar and other U.S. manufacturers in Indian solar plants has been a particular source of long-standing tension.
Earlier in 2012, India’s Centre for Science and Environment, a research and advocacy organization, publicly accused the U.S. of “killing” Indian solar manufacturing by offering Indian solar developers low-interest loans through its Export-Import Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corp. in exchange for mandating that the developers use solar products from the U.S.
Although India’s National Solar Mission rules require that projects eligible for the program use domestically manufactured modules, thin-film PV is currently exempt.
Procedures
Now that the investigation has begun, the steps involved and the basic timeline are expected to closely resemble those of the U.S. and EU solar trade probes.
“The basic procedures are going to be the same,” Smirnow explains. “India, the U.S. and China are all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). If you’re a member of the WTO, you agree to certain principles on how you pursue anti-dumping investigations.”
As with the U.S. and EU cases, a key component will be detailed questionnaires on import quantities and pricing. Smirnow encourages any U.S. company involved with exports to India to take part.
“You’re always better participating in a dumping investigation than not,” he warns. “You’re going to get a better result.” For example, in the SolarWorld-led U.S. solar trade case against China, the “countrywide” tariff rate for companies that did not participate in the investigation soared as high as 254.66%, while others saw tariffs ranging from 23.75% to 30.66%.
The official period of investigation (POI) will cover January 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012, according to the Indian government’s documents. However, for purposes of determining whether allegedly dumped products caused “injury” to the domestic market, the government will examine three separate earlier time periods: April 2008 through March 2009, April 2009 through March 2010, and March 2011 through the standard POI time frame.
Because the investigation remains in its preliminary stages, Smirnow says it is too soon to begin speculating on whether tariffs ultimately will be imposed - or how high they may be.
In any case, he does not foresee an exodus of U.S. suppliers from the Indian market, even if the government applies severe tariffs. Rather, these companies may simply need to adjust their supply channels.
“If they impose high margins that effectively preclude their ability to compete, then they might be thinking of alternate sources of supply,” he says, noting that many Chinese manufacturers coped with the U.S.’ tariffs by moving some of their manufacturing to neighboring countries that were not subject to the investigation.
For U.S. manufacturers exporting to India, that strategy could be slightly complicated by the additional presence of Malaysia and Taiwan - potential alternate manufacturing locales - in the trade case. “By including Malaysia, they may be targeting First Solar facilities,” Smirnow points out.
Mass. Project Sparks
Worker Controversy
Thanks to license laws that are more stringent than in many other places in the U.S., Massachusetts has seen growing controversy over PV installation staffing - particularly at large-scale, ground-mounted commercial solar farm sites.
Commonwealth law states that anyone who installs “wires, conduits, apparatus, devices, fixtures or other appliances for carrying or using electricity for light, heat, power, fire warning or security system purposes” must be a licensed electrician. In contrast, many other states may require only that a licensed electrician supervise on-site or allow the contractor to hold a general license.
Some PV developers and integrators report that the higher costs associated with using strictly licensed electricians keeps them out of the Massachusetts solar market altogether. Other solar companies operating in Massachusetts have found themselves under investigation by the Division of Professional Licensure (DPL) after labor groups filed complaints alleging the use of illegal, unlicensed workers at job sites.
Such a conflict erupted this fall at a PV project site in Southbridge, Mass., where the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) of Greater Boston says temporary workers - not licensed electricians - were spotted installing racking and other components.
As Solar Industry initially reported in October, NECA filed complaints with the DPL against several solar firms involved with the project. The investigation is currently under way, says Matthew Lash, assistant executive manager at NECA of Greater Boston.
San Francisco-headquartered Martifer Solar USA, which is serving as the general contractor for the project, subcontracted the installation work to Patriot Solar, Lash explains. Patriot Solar then secured workers from a local temporary staffing firm, Absolute Staffing.
After photographing the workers and confirming their assignments, Lash voiced his concerns to representatives from Martifer Solar, Patriot Solar and Absolute Staffing.
“Martifer said they are being told by local code officials that they are compliant,” he says, adding that the company planned to proceed with its current arrangement until its management was told to do otherwise.
Martifer Solar declined to comment for this article. Patriot Solar and EPG Solar - which owns the land on which the project is being developed - did not respond to requests for interviews.
However, Michael Borkowski, managing partner at EPG Solar, told the Worcester Telegram that licensed electricians would be used for future work on the Southbridge project.
He also maintained that non-electricians can, in fact, legally perform racking installations and similar duties, per the outcome of a recent court case.
The court decision, known as the Carroll case, centered on the role of non-licensed general contractors in building PV installations in Massachusetts. The Board of State Examiners of Electricians sent a guidance memo to local inspectors explaining the case’s outcome in late October.
“The judge’s decision dealt primarily with the ability of the so-called general contractor not licensed as an electrician to advertise for and subcontract with a licensed electrician for solar installations,” Lash says. “It did not clear unlicensed individuals to install electrical components of a solar array, as some may erroneously claim.”
What constitutes an “electrical component” in a PV array? According to the board’s memo, the installation of racks and rails does qualify as electrical work, while drilling holes in a roof as part of array prep work, for instance, is considered non-electrical.
“The exact point at which general contractors must subcontract with a licensed electrician should be decided on a case-by-case basis and may be enforced through individual proceedings,” the court added.
As part of the DPL investigation in Southbridge, Lash says he has also contacted town officials, whom he criticizes as “unresponsive” in recent weeks. Nicola Tortis, the town’s building inspector, told the Worcester Telegram that NECA’s complaints stem from hostility over its own members’ failure to win the installation job rather than actual safety concerns.
Lash refutes the notion that NECA’s interference is political and notes that the Southbridge case is representative of a larger trend of solar contractors that take labor shortcuts. Earlier this year, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Boston division, Local 103, waged a public campaign against a 5.6 MW PV project in Canton, Mass., alleging that illegal installation work was taking place.
“Sadly, we’re seeing this approach taken all across the commonwealth, especially on these large-scale installations,” Lash says. “Folks need to either come here and obey the law, or not come here and let the responsible contractors install.”
CPV Market Driven
By Tech Advances
Ongoing significant technological advances from companies such as Solar Junction and Amonix will help drive concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) installations to almost 1.2 GW by 2016, according to a new report from IMS Research.
The report predicts that the cost of a CPV system will decline, on average, by 16% per year until 2016. In parallel to this cost reduction, leading suppliers are also making major technological advancements that will help make CPV more attractive in a number of markets.
“With companies such as Solar Junction breaking cell efficiency records and Amonix capable of producing 34.2 percent efficient commercial modules, and focused on driving down system prices, acceptance of CPV as a utility-scale generation method is predicted to accelerate,” explains Jemma Davies, an IMS research analyst and the report’s co-author.
Although the up-front cost of a CPV system will always remain higher than a conventional PV system, as cell and module efficiencies increase - producing higher electricity yield - the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) will fall considerably in the target regions for CPV systems (with a direct normal irradiance above 6 kWh/m2/day).
“It is important to focus less on up-front module prices and more on LCOE and what it means for the PV market,” notes Sam Wilkinson, IMS Research analyst and report co-author. “If a CPV system is capable of producing more electricity at a lower cost over its lifetime, surely it should be a viable option for a PV installation.”
According to the report, one of the main issues that CPV suppliers face is the lack of proven and existing CPV systems to prove viability. However, one of the most effective ways to prove the suitability of a CPV system is to install pilot systems. Soitec has proven the value of such installations after signing a PPA with Eskom in South Africa for a 44 MW system, which follows from a pilot installation close to the proposed power plant.
These supplier announcements are evidence of the increasing understanding of the benefits CPV systems can provide in the target regions and the potential for this growing market, IMS Research says. Although only 90 MW are estimated to be installed in 2012, installations are predicted to increase rapidly over the next four years.
DOE Announces
New SunShot Awards
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new round of funding for its SunShot Initiative, which aims to drive solar energy to be cost-competitive with other energy sources by 2020.
The following companies were selected for awards:
- AmberWave Inc., based in Salem, N.H., will receive $1 million for its “robust ultra-thin mono-crystalline silicon technology on flexible steel carriers,” which is expected to reduce silicon usage by more than 90% compared to standard wafer-based PV, the DOE says.
- Bandgap Engineering, based in Woburn, Mass., will receive $1 million for its work to increase solar cell efficiency by integrating silicon nanowire cells into standard processing, thus raising overall cell efficiency by approximately 10%. The company will provide nanowire-coated wafers to cell manufacturers and develop a manufacturing process.
- Enki Technology, based in San Jose, Calif., will receive $1.5 million for its work on developing low-cost anti-reflective coatings and anti-soiling coatings.
- Infinite Invention LLC, based in Philadelphia, will receive $386,462 for its Solar Socket device, which is expected to streamline the PV installation process by adding sockets for plugging in systems between the meter and meter case.
- Princeton Power Systems, based in Lawrenceville, N.J., will receive $1 million for an inverter it is developing. The inverter changes DC power from PV strings to AC power without requiring a grid-side transformer.
- Qado Energy Inc., based in Summit, N.J., will receive $500,000 for its work on a decision platform for utilities and distributed-generation developers that assesses benefits of deploying distributed energy.
- QBotix Inc., based in Menlo Park, Calif., will receive $972,874 for its robotics systems used in PV trackers. The technology is expected to enable 50% cost reduction for dual-axis tracking.
- REhnu Inc., based in Tucson, Ariz., will receive $1 million for concentrated PV (CPV) technology that it is readying for commercial production. The technology incorporates “large glass dish reflectors, each with a compact array of CPV cells at its focus, making it economical to build systems with an extended 40-year lifetime and maintain high power output by swapping in new cells as multi-junction technology improves,” the DOE explains.
- Seeo, based in Hayward, Calif., will receive $317,536 for an energy storage system it is developing with SunEdison. The unit uses Seeo’s solid-state battery and a set of control analytics designed to optimize performance when operated alongside solar.
- Stion, based in San Jose, Calif., will receive $2 million for its tandem copper indium gallium diselenide module technology. According to the DOE, the tandem module eliminates the “design and manufacturing challenges associated with multi-junction monolithic integration,” thus allowing for 18% efficiency.
European Installers
Split On Tariffs
Fewer than half - 44% - of PV installers based in Europe are in favor of anti-dumping tariffs placed on solar modules imported from China, according to a new survey conducted by Bonn, Germany-based market research firm EuPD Research. The survey included installers from Germany, Italy, the U.K. and France.
Following the filing of a complaint by industry coalition EU ProSun, the European Commission is currently investigating whether the Chinese government’s support of its solar manufacturers is illegal. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, duties may be imposed on solar cells and/or modules imported from China.
Of the 875 installers surveyed by EuPD Research, more than 80% were aware of the case filed by European manufacturers and the subsequent process to examine subsidies.
Although 44% of installers said that, from their business perspective, they are in favor of countervailing duties for Chinese modules, an almost equally large proportion - 42% - said that they are not in favor of such intervention.
“While those who favor countervailing duties argue in moral and normative terms, the majority of opponents cite economic reasons in their arguments,” adds Markus Lohr, senior research analyst at EuPD Research.
“Proponents of countervailing duties state their case with social working conditions and the adherence to a minimum wage,” Lohr explains. “One respondent summarized his main argument against the duties as follows: ‘It increases total systems prices and reduces profitability for customers, which means I simply sell less systems.’”
California To Regain
Solar Dominance
Driven by a combination of policy initiatives, California is poised to regain its dominant position in the U.S. solar PV market this year, according to new research from NPD Solarbuzz. California’s market share has gradually declined as New Jersey, Arizona and other states - especially on the East Coast - launched their own initiatives to deploy PV and to diversify their energy portfolios. In 2011, California’s share dropped to 30%, while New Jersey’s share jumped to 17%.
“NPD Solarbuzz projects that California will regain its market share, after seeing declines in 2010 and 2011, and eventually hold more than half of the U.S. market share this year, thanks to a variety of programs, policies, and regulations that cover the whole spectrum of the PV market, including residential, non-residential and utility segments,” explains Junko Movellan, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz.
California’s baseline market demand has been supported by the California Solar Initiative (CSI), the nation’s largest ratepayer-funded program. While the CSI has been instrumental in the development of residential and non-residential net-metered systems (used to lower electricity costs on-site), California has also instituted several other programs to support larger systems to satisfy the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements.
California has one of the most ambitious RPS goals, requiring both public and investor-owned utilities to procure 33% of all electricity delivered to retail customers from renewable sources by 2020.
To meet this requirement, the state’s utilities have solicited and contracted not only large-scale centralized projects, but also mid-sized systems - often below 20 MW and interconnected to the distribution grid. Contracted large-scale projects in California that are under development include the 550 MW Topaz solar farm, the 550 MW Desert Sunlight project and the 250 MW California Valley Solar Ranch.
According to the NPD Solarbuzz North America PV Markets Quarterly, the California solar PV market will experience 60% year-over-year (Y/Y) growth this year, continuing to lead the nation with the long-term commitment to solar and other renewable and energy-efficient technologies.
The U.S. solar PV market is expected to have grown 51% Y/Y in 2012, but it is projected to experience slower growth this year at 30% Y/Y, due to the oversupply of solar renewable energy certificates on the East Coast and phasing out of the Treasury cash-grant program, the company adds.
Emerging Markets
To Boost Solar
Emerging global markets are forecast to help bring stability to the solar market, with up to 12 GW of new photovoltaic capacity expected to be added in 2017 - up from just 1.6 GW in 2012, according to a new report from IHS.
The study, which evaluated the potential for PV additions in 40 countries around the world, found that up to 30 GW of cumulative PV capacity will be added in emerging markets over the next four years, helping to stabilize the industry amidst a raft of incentive cuts in core European markets.
Although many of these emerging
markets may present significant risks
to companies seeking to enter them,
many also offer excellent growth prospects. Given the great uncertainty in emerging solar markets, two forecast scenarios were presented. The scenarios predicted that 2.1 to 3.5 GW of new PV capacity will be added in 2013, growing to 2.9 to 12.2 GW in 2017.
Taking into account macroeconomic factors, potential market size, project profitability, near-term policy and project pipelines in each of the 40 countries, the study found that some of the most appealing markets will be South Africa, Thailand, Chile, Romania and Brazil. Tier-two markets, which scored slightly lower but still may offer opportunities to solar companies (possibly with risks), included Argentina, Ecuador, Turkey and Mexico.
Although each country’s market is unique, the following recurring drivers of solar PV deployment have emerged, IHS says. In Africa and the Middle East, low and highly subsidized power prices have prevented renewables from taking off, but heavy reliance on fossil fuels for power generation and an expected 26% demand increase by 2017 will reverse the trend.
DOE Hub Focusing
On Energy Storage
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded up to $120 million over five years to a multi-partner team led by Argonne National Laboratory to establish a new energy-storage hub that will help develop new technology to take greater advantage of intermittent renewable energy sources.
The hub, which will be known as the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, will combine the research and development of five DOE national laboratories, five universities and four private firms in an effort to achieve advances in battery performance.
“Based on the tremendous advances that have been made in the past few years, there are very good reasons to believe that advanced battery technologies can and will play an increasingly valuable role in strengthening America’s energy and economic security by reducing our oil dependence, upgrading our aging power grid and allowing us to take greater advantage of intermittent energy sources like wind and solar,” notes DOE Secretary Steven Chu. S
New & Noteworthy
India Investigating Imports From U.S.