Is the sun setting on solar?While low prices for PV technology have led to increasing installations, these prices are also likely to lower quality technology and installations, possibly resulting in a global backlash against solar power, Pike Research contends. Solar technologies, including concentrated solar power, photovoltaic , and concentrated photovoltaic, are going through a significant correction as a seven-year period of capacity building, aggressive pricing, and promises of grid parity driven largely by feed-in tariffs comes to an end, according to Pike. Given high levels of capacity, mounting inventory, and decreasing incentive levels, PV industry growth could be flat to negative for the next couple of years, Pike concludes. "Low prices and generous tariffs have led directly to the expectation of even lower prices, even as manufacturing capacities have increased and new market entrants have flooded the industry, most assuming that the outcome would be high profits," said Paula Mints, Director of Solar Research for Pike. "For technology suppliers, the expectation that prices will consistently decrease has led to painful consolidation and failure. Certainly, selling less and losing less would be in the industry's best interests. Historically, however, the PV industry has behaved in a manner that indicates growth is the desired state, even if this growth is unprofitable." All this aside, solar is not going away and will play an important part in the future energy mix, she added. For more: Related Article: |