Posted on 04/18/2012 1:26:24 PM PDT by neverdem
"Renewable" energy subsidies have become an unaffordable feel-good luxury.
First Solar Corporation was indeed first at something: It was the first solar company to lose more than $15 billion of market value. FSLR's stock plummeted from $140 per share a year ago, and $170 a few weeks before that, to under $21 per share early this week before rebounding modestly on Tuesday. In fact, $15 billion substantially understates the peak-to-trough drop in the company's value, as the stock traded above $250 per share for most of 2008, briefly peaking over $300. As of Tuesday, the company's value was just under $2 billion; at its all-time high stock price, that number was over $25 billion.
In a press release on Tuesday morning, the company announced that a massive decline in its business, especially its European business, will cause it to record about $300 million in restructuring charges while firing 2,000 employees, about 30 percent of its total work force. This is due primarily to Germany's recently cutting its solar subsidies, following a similar move in Spain.
According to the company's Chairman, Mike Ahearn: "After a thorough analysis, it is clear the European market has deteriorated to the extent that our operations there are no longer economically sustainable, and maintaining those operations is not in the best long-term interest of our stakeholders."
Further: "The solar market has fundamentally changed, and we are quickly adapting our market approach and operations to maintain and build upon our competitive advantage," said Ahearn...
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
All these rats were on board ship with the UN proclaimed Global Warming Scam. The house of cards is falling down.
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With significant breakthroughs in efficiency not now foreseen, someday solar power may actually be workable. Not today. It could be 20 years away, 50 years away, 100 years away.
Today we need oil and natural gas. The real future is fuel cells, and perhaps those are not as far away as people think.
The collaspe of the solar and green energy companies mirrors the collaspe of the AGW/IPCC CO2 scam, which
mirrors the collaspe of the obama led socialist liberal democrats. They are all one in the same. The fraudulent election of obama enabled by the leaders in the MSM and democrat party has exposed his radical/anti american agenda to the american people like never before. If the democrats think 2010 was politcally bad they ain’t seen bad yet, but it’s coming real soon.
These companies are nothing more that money laundering operations. Green doesn’t work.
How many hundreds of millions of taxpayer loan guarantees did these parasites get?
After a period of robust growth, First Solar is scaled to operate at higher volumes than currently exist following the reduction of subsidies in key legacy markets.
They take a government handout and think it means robust growth. Walking upright must be these guys greatest personal achievement.
How so? They burn hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, but you have to generate the hydrogen, which takes electricity. They'd be essential in a solar based hydrogen economy. Is that what you were thinking?
“With significant breakthroughs in efficiency”
Efficiency is not the problem, it’s dollars per Watt installed. If I have a 50% efficient cell that costs $200 dollars per Watt once you get it installed, vs a 5% efficient cell that costs $30 per Watt, the less efficient cell wins.
Basically it’s manufacturing costs and fixturing. Now that China is turning to nuclear and the EU is dropping all solar subsidies, the cost of solar is going to go up!
Cue the smiling cowboy saying Well...bye.
IMHO, Not nearly enough people involved, are going to serve time for this crap.
The other issue is that to be a life-sustaining planet the distance from our parent star has to be a certain amount. That dilutes the primary energy source simply as a matter of geometry and conservation of energy (photons). A diffuse energy source means you have to work that much harder to gather it in sufficient amounts to be useful. The solar constant is what it is. Nothing we can do about it. No amount of wishing, hoping, legislating, demonstrating, jingoism, or whatever, is going to change it. I don't understand why people fail to grasp these simple facts.
The advance of civilization has a common thread running through it, and that is man's desire to be free of the vagaries of natural phenomena. So for shelter from the weather and cold we build houses and heat them with intense energy sources. To banish the darkness we develop illumination sources and the fuel to power them. To provide water and limit floods we build dams and aquaducts. To organize into productive societies and multiply our collective efforts we build cities and find the energy to power them, which makes it possible to live in densely populated places where otherwise desert or barren land would exist. All of that means concentrated energy in a form available on demand at reasonable cost. Solar and wind don't meet those needs.
House blocks EPA from banning lead in ammunition
Giving away the game (Axelrod's amazing gaffe!)
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Solar will become price competitive in about the same time frame as fusion power plants.
ping - great read!
Thanks for the ping!
Meanwhile in Germany.... yea, your probably aware, of how they plan on dropping subsidies to solar power. The people working in their country can no longer afford to have their gov subsidies such cute plans. :)
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