Chinese manufacturers are pumping out so many solar panels that the resulting prices have tanked dramatically. This overabundance of solar panels has made them so cheap that instead of being used for their made purpose they are being used as fence lining. Specifically, this practice is being done in Germany and the Netherlands, but it is also starting to take form in North America, the UK, and Australia.
The global solar panel supply is forecast to reach 1,100 gigawatts by the end of the year, which is three times more than the demand. So prices of solar panels have been steadily dropping, solar panel prices have already dropped by half in 2023 and are forecasted to drop another 40% by 2028.
This oversupply has led to international backlash and US government officials are going to be sent out to resolve the issue with China over a series of talks. China has mainly been doing this because of its overreliance on its real estate industry and the debt crisis it now has and has moved over to electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar.
Source
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-flood-solar-panel-cell-market-garden-fence-overcapacity-yellen-2024-4
5 comments:
This is interesting. My brother actually works at a solar panel company so I wonder what people like him in the industry think. I wonder what American officials can actually do to help combat this.
This seems similar to China's approach to throwing up real estate just because they could pay to do so. Maybe this is their government's way of picking up the real estate sector's hole in the economy by overproducing in another industry.
I had been under the impression that solar panels were very expensive, so this came as quite a shock to me. How cheap are these solar panels being produced if the prices can drop this low? Are prices already lower than costs, and if not are mass numbers of solar panels still being produced?
I agree with Tim that it has been implied to Americans that solar energy is expensive to install and maintain, therefore they are not incentivized to invest. However, this is not to say that I am shocked by this. Hopefully, with the investment in solar fields happening in the US right now, some will step up to help with this surplus and incentivize the public to utilize more sustainable energy.
I'm unclear on what the incentive is for China to continue overproducing solar panels because if anything it is driving the price down and demand down.
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