Dark clouds gather over China's once-booming solar industry

[Locutus]

China's push into solar energy was supposed to be a proud example of how the country was advancing into hi-tech manufacturing. But now the whole sector is on the brink of bankruptcy.



Two years ago, LDK Solar, one of China's largest solar panel makers, built a new, state-of-the-art factory in the central city of Hefei.

It sits in one of the city's industrial parks, a big LDK Solar logo on its wall, with the New York-listed company's slogan underneath: "Lighting the Future".

"It cost 2.5 billion yuan (£250m) to build, the majority of the equipment was imported from Germany, and it hired 5,000 staff," said Jie Xiaoming, a 30-year-old who works at the plant's quality control and packaging department.

Last month, however, 4,500 of the staff were put on gardening leave. They receive 700 yuan a month to stay at home. The factory has shut down 24 of its 32 production lines.

"There do not seem to be any orders. People are still turning up for work, but mostly just sleeping. The management has not said much, just that the United States has a new policy that is stopping our exports," said Mr Jie.



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Dark clouds gather over China's once-booming solar industry - Telegraph


h/t sda

 

[L Gilbert]

Yep. Lack of orders sure can cause a flop in a company. Doesn't help when other countries' policies make you unable to fulfill orders, either.

 

[MapleDog]

Always funny,every time we get something that should make energy without polluting,it gets pushed away,who again does not want that?

 

[china]

Living in many countries in this world ,I have learned not to accept what the medias portrays as a reality ...especially the western media's describing happenings in China .

 

[taxslave]

Living in many countries in this world ,I have learned not to accept what the medias portrays as a reality ...especially the western media's describing happenings in China .

Meaning that it is probably even worse?

 

[china]

Meaning that it is probably even worse?

Why don't you go to China and see for your self and then you can open your own thread and show
everyone how smart you are .

 

[petros]

Yep. Lack of orders sure can cause a flop in a company. Doesn't help when other countries' policies make you unable to fulfill orders, either.

Or is it the 600% retail mark-up when the goods hit the Can/Am shores?

 

[BaalsTears]

Is there a solar industry in Canada?

 

[beaker]

Why don't you go to China and see for your self and then you can open your own thread and show
everyone how smart you are .

I am curious about the Chinese reality around solar and alternatives in general . The comment that the implications within China could be worse are reasonable given reports of economic difficulties within China similar to what other countries are going through. If the Chinese are pulling back from solar in order to cut short term costs by using coal instead it won't be good for global warming.

 

[eh1eh]

They just need WalMart selling those panels and the US gov and the people will buy them up like there's no tomorrow. You know because there will be a price drop.

 

[Niflmir]

Why don't you go to China and see for your self and then you can open your own thread and show
everyone how smart you are .

They still blocking TOR in China? Liu Xiaobo still in prison for speaking his mind?

 

[L Gilbert]

Or is it the 600% retail mark-up when the goods hit the Can/Am shores?

Could be that, too, but the article only referred to the issues I mentioned (lack of orders and gov't policies).

 

[china]

Liu Xiaobo still in prison for speaking his mind?

Majority of the Chinese believe that this is where he belongs , big majority consider him a trouble maker .
Why don't you keep your nose out of afairs of other countries and look what's happening in your own back yard - fix it up .
You,d make a fine memeber of a western media .

 

[L Gilbert]

Why don't you keep your nose out of afairs of other countries and look what's happening in your own back yard - fix it up.

What are you doing here in CANADIAN Content then?

 

[Niflmir]

Majority of the Chinese believe that this is where he belongs , big majority consider him a trouble maker .
Why don't you keep your nose out of afairs of other countries and look what's happening in your own back yard - fix it up .
You,d make a fine memeber of a western media .

The essence of what it means to be human is to have compassion for people who have suffered, especially those who were locked in a cage for doing nothing other than speaking words that some people found inconvenient. So of course it is my affair, as a fellow member of humanity.

Your lack of compassion says everything anyone needs to know about China. You go on and on about how people shouldn't judge China based on what they hear in the west, but you yourself do more than enough to paint it as the despotic regime that it is.

 

[L Gilbert]

You go on and on about how people shouldn't judge China based on what they hear in the west, but you yourself do more than enough to paint it as the despotic regime that it is.

.... all the while judging everyone else's country while he's at it.

 

[Niflmir]

.... all the while judging everyone else's country while he's at it.

It's really easy to push his buttons though. Liu Xiaobo and TOR are just two things that I can think of off the top of my head. The list of atrocious deeds committed by the Chinese is long enough to fill volumes. It is funny though, I would otherwise have good things to say about the Chinese solar industry, but trying to whitewash the whole country just annoys me.