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Bosch Finds Solar Business Unprofitable, Exits

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-silver-lining-in-actual-clouds dept.

New submitter rwise2112 writes "German engineering company Bosch said Friday that it is abandoning its solar energy business, because there is no way to make it economically viable.'We have considered the latest technological advances, cost-reduction potential and strategic alignment, and there have also been talks with potential partners,' Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner said. 'However, none of these possibilities resulted in a solution for the solar energy division that would be economically viable over the long term.'"

10 of 477 comments (clear)

  1. Re:FINANCIALLY viable by schneidafunk · · Score: 5, Informative

    In TFA: "European makers of solar energy have accused low cost Asian competitors, especially manufacturers from China, of creating the trouble for their western peers, partly by flooding the market with products at prices far below production costs."

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  2. Unprofitable by schneidafunk · · Score: 5, Informative

    The reason it is unprofitable is because China is flooding the market with panels that cost less than the production cost. If China was punished for its behavior, these companies would be able to compete and stay in business.

    "European makers of solar energy have accused low cost Asian competitors, especially manufacturers from China, of creating the trouble for their western peers, partly by flooding the market with products at prices far below production costs."

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    Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
    1. Re:Unprofitable by jandrese · · Score: 4, Informative

      People have been doing that, and causing some of the Chinese producers to bankrupt themselves already, even with all of the government subsidies and kickbacks.

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      I read the internet for the articles.
  3. Re:FINANCIALLY viable by M0j0_j0j0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's called dumping and it is working, Chinese dumping was the main reason EU and US removed the benefits.

  4. Re:I love working with PV cells by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Informative

    But I'm also aware without government subsidies, it's not economically viable. On the large scale.

    Yet. The point at which solar energy becomes cheaper than the competition is called 'grid parity', and it's already happened in some countries. Over the next few years we'll see it happen in more and more places.

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  5. Re:I love working with PV cells by blue+trane · · Score: 5, Informative

    China's government subsidizes their solar companies to a much greater degree than the US does; that's why Solyndra couldn't compete.

    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0320/China-subsidized-solar-panels-US-finds.-Are-tariffs-the-right-response

    the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration determined that Chinese manufacturers had apparently dumped "massive" quantities of solar panels into the US market that were sold far more cheaply than US-made panels. According to the finding, the lower price was mainly because the panels were heavily subsidized by dozens of low-cost Chinese government loan programs and other subsidies.

  6. Re:I love working with PV cells by asm2750 · · Score: 4, Informative

    But I'm also aware without government subsidies,

    The problem aren't government subsidies, but simply that companies in China can produce cheaper solar cells then Bosch can. The solar business is full of companies and lots of competition and it's hard to get a lot of money out of that.

    Some solar PV companies in China are also exiting the market. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/20/174828432/chinese-solar-panel-maker-suntech-goes-bankrupt

    Fabrication costs need to go down for makers, and ROI needs to go up for consumers.

  7. Re:Simple physics and the law of diminishing retur by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Informative

    When in history has technology jumped 1000% in one discovery?

    1945.

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    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  8. Re:I love working with PV cells by Technician · · Score: 3, Informative

    In some places include the mobile and remote. In my case, I picked up a pannel for the motorhome. Payback on the house is beyond the life of the panel at current electric rates with hydro, wind, and large scale solar nearby. On the motorhome, the longer I can leave the gas generator shut off the better I and my neighbors like it. Besides, electric generation with a motorhome genset is not in parity with local grid rates, thus the payback is measured in a few summers on the road.

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    The truth shall set you free!
  9. Re:I love working with PV cells by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, most things benefit from some level of government subsidy.

    If you are competing with one of those, and you don't have *any* subsidies, then you're not economically viable because you have higher cost relative to your competition.

    Fossil fuels and nuclear power enjoy generous government subsidies, in areas including tax loopholes, military security support for oil producers, cut-rate socialized liability insurance for nuclear risks that private insurers wouldn't touch with a hundred-foot pole, saddling the public with the costs of environmental damage... the list goes on and on. If solar power gets no subsidies relative to all that, of course it can't compete.

    If you somehow magically removed *all* government subsidies on everything, then solar power might be "economically viable" again. But thousands of years of history, and human nature in general, show that it is just not going to happen in the real world. Ever, Deal with it.