solar trade tensions

1H 2012 US Solar PV Installations Grow 120%; US Poised to be World’s 3rd-Largest Market

Solar PV installations more than doubled in the Americas in 1H 2012, with demand in the US leading the way. Rapid growth will accelerate in 2H 2012, according to an IMS report, making the US the third-largest market in the world. 1H 2012 results put paid to assertions that the US imposition of anti-dumping tariffs and countervailing duties on Chinese imports would stifle demand in the US, according to the industry association behind the litigation effort. […]

First Solar Launches India Expansion Plan as Trade Tensions Escalate

First Solar’s shifting its strategic focus toward supplying and building thin-film solar power projects in India, as PV cell and panel profit margins continue to be pressured and trade tensions escalate. The Tempe, Arizona thin-film market leader aims to capture 20% of the Indian solar PV market even as critics assert that US government export finance banks are providing low-interest loans to Indian solar power project developers that violate WTO rules on international trade. […]

China’s Solar PV Players Ramp Up Overseas Investments

China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers aren’t waiting around for US decisions on China improperly subsidizing the industry and claims that Chinese manufacturers are dumping product in the US; they’re shifting investments overseas. China’s TFG Radiant Group announced it’s increasing its equity stake in Colorado flexible thin-film solar PV manufacturer Ascent Solar, while LDK Solar announced its increasing its stake and launching a public takeover offer for all the shares of German silicon solar PV producer Sunways AG.