Fern
Elite Member
- Sep 30, 2003
- 26,907
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Originally posted by: Citrix
christ, for that kind of money put solar panels on all the houses in the US and all the extra energy that the home doesnt use it gets put out on the grid. I just dont understand why we have not had much more solar technology incorporated into our society, especially after all the brown/blackouts that certain parts of the country has experiences the last few summers.
I for one would love to see my meter run backwards.
I worked in this industry for a while, was about a year or two ago.
The quick answer to your question is a shortage of silicon. That shortage caused the price to shoot up about 300% and made securing supplies extremely difficult. Some companies, otherwise uninteresting, were acquisition targets merely because of their pre-existing silicon supply contracts. I.e., they were purchased merely to get to their silicon supply.
This shortage was caused by an incredible incresase in demand for solar panels. While CA has had a thriving market for some, some Euro countries like Germany instituted tax credits etc that created a ton of additional demand.
Fern