Large Solar Panel Manufacturer Out of Supply Until 2Q 2010

© Kevin Dooley

As reported by Reueters, Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd has some good news to report.  They foresee the price of solar panels holding steady through 2010.

The bad news?  They’re sold out through the 2nd quarter of 2010 and have been in such a position since the end of 2009.

Suntech is one of the leaders in solar energy supplies and equipment and has four production facilities in China.  In November of 2009 they announced their first US production location would be located in Phoenix, AZ – the perfect location for research and development in the use of the sun for providing solar energy products for commercial and residential purposes.

This lack of supply seems to be caused by a recovery of solar energy utilization in line with our on-going economic recovery post 2008-2009.  The company’s 3Q 2009 business highlights show that shipments had increased 67% as compared to 2Q 2009.

Some of that interest may be coming from some unexpected avenues of interest.  MSNBC reported this week that an Indian tribe in New Mexico is prepared to build the first large scale solar energy setup on Indian land in order to produce much needed revenue.   The millions the tribe plans to generate could spur additional interest from tribes in similar situations.  It could be an excellent use of available tribal resources.

Other commercial projects in the solar industry will also be launching in 2010 and it is yet to be seen how the increased activity in this industry coupled with the lack of at least one source of supply will impact the ability of homeowners to find the solar panels needed for building their own solar energy systems for home use.

Fortunately, the news in solar cell manufacturing has all been positive.  Several developments ensure an on-going supply and increased efficiency of the photovoltaic cells used to make solar panels.  Researchers at a lab in Berkeley, CA, have had a breakthrough in using crystals to capture more of the sun’s energy than has been previously thought possible – a discovery which should lead to more efficient cells with greater production capacity.  At the same time, Panasonic announced a significant increase in their solar cell manufacturing business with the objective of becoming one of the top three cell manufacturers in relatively short time.