Comments on: Four Solar Stocks That Did Even Better Than SolarCity Last Week

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Thu, 30 May 2013 00:04:00 +0000

There’s been discussion in the industry that some sort of quality monitoring might be needed. There’s been concern that some of the manufacturers who are in danger of going under would cut corners and ship some sub-standard product.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 29 May 2013 20:50:00 +0000

It looks like Todd did some good research. I think the comment from Rhone Resch summarizes the situation: “I think quality is increasingly a concern, but it’s not a major issue yet.”

As Yingli’s rep said, only 15 defective modules had been returned to the company out of 2.8 million shipped to the United States since 2009.

With the solar shakeout occurring (link below), I’m sure some companies are cutting corners. It would be good if there were better systems in place for evaluating quality. But there are some.

Of course, some solar panels have been going for over 30 years with little change in output. Many are expected to go for decades, long beyond their 20- or 25-year warrantees. But, surely, some won’t.

For sure, this kind of piece benefits Japanese, German, and US solar manufacturers, but I doubt China’s solar manufacturers will suffer or change much. They dominate the top 10 list.

http://solarlove.org/10-top-solar-module-manufacturers-in-2012-ihs-report/

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/27/solar-industry-shakeout-what-it-means/

By: Steeple

Steeple — Wed, 29 May 2013 20:07:00 +0000

Perhaps someone here would like to comment on the attached article regarding widespread early failures of solar panels

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/energy-environment/solar-powers-dark-side.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&