Written by by Eric Worrall at wattsupwiththat.com
First published JoNova; Subsidising capacity expansion in the middle of a glut – these jobs will evaporate as soon as the subsidies dry up.
Global glut turns solar panels into garden fencing option
Europeans find alternative location for cheap green technology with cost of rooftop installation so high
“This is the result of solar panels getting so cheap that we’re just putting them everywhere,” said Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at BloombergNEF. “Since installation cost — labour, scaffolding — is the vast majority of the cost of installing a rooftop PV [photovoltaic] system, it can make sense.”
“Why put up a fence when you can just put up a load of solar panels, even if they’re not aligned exactly to the sun?” says Martin Brough, head of climate research at BNP Paribas Exane. “Where the panels themselves are just incredibly cheap, the constraints become the installation costs and the sites . . . you get a bit of a DIY mentality.”
In Europe, industry executives are warning of imminent trouble for a sector that has been plagued by job losses, bankruptcies and closures in recent months.