And another major company bails out of the alt-energy business
The writing is on the wall -- the government subsidies are on their way out and the disparity between alt.energy (solar/wind) at 30� per kilowatt/hour and traditional energy (coal/nuke/hydro) at 6� per kilowatt/hour aren't making customers happy.
From
Associated Press:
Bosch to abandon solar energy business
German engineering company Bosch said Friday that it is abandoning its solar energy business, because there is no way to make it economically viable amid overcapacity and huge price pressure in the industry.
The solar power industry has been hit by falling subsidies, weaker sales and increasingly stiff price competition, especially by Chinese manufacturers. Robert Bosch GmbH's move came after German industrial conglomerate Siemens announced last October that it would give up its loss-making solar business.
Bosch said that it will stop making products such as solar cells, wafers and modules at the beginning of next year. It will sell a plant in Venissieux, France, and is abandoning a plan to build a new plant in Malaysia.
The solar energy division, which employs about 3,000 people, lost around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) last year. The company said that, despite efforts to reduce manufacturing costs, it was unable to offset a drop in prices of as much as 40 percent.
Yeah and one of the
biggest Chinese solar companies just filed for bankruptcy.
How much of our dollars have been wasted on this stupid program -- we
have enough thorium in the USA for
several thousand years (PDF) of operation with more being discovered every day.
Posted by DaveH at March 22, 2013 9:53 PM