The discussion begins with what I consider to be a misunderstanding, when Ishita is asked what are the two types of technologies used to generate electricity from the sun. The answer should be Photovoltaic (P.V.) and concentrating thermo-solar. Instead, she discuses the two most popular P.V. panel types  (silicon based and thin film based), completely ignoring the concentrating thermo solar industry. Oh, well.

She goes on to talk about a very important factor in the solar energy market – price of silicon. Due to oversupply, silicon prices have been dropping, causing silicon-based solar panels to become cheaper than thin film solar panels, which do not rely on silicon to generate electricity and who’s strongest selling point was low manufacturing costs. That trend (silicon based solar panels becoming cheaper than thin-film solar panels)  is nicely reflected in the stock prices of the two companies discussed in the video – First Solar(blue line),a thin-film panels manufactures vs. Suntech(red line), a market leader in silicon based solar panels:

China’s solar energy market

Another topic of discussion is the Chinese solar energy market. I’m a strong believer in china becoming a global solar energy leader, both on the supply but also on the demand side. China has deep pockets, a huge landmass,  and a terrible environmental track record, making it a strong candidate to dominant the solar industry. There are already very positive signs from the Chinese government and I predict that more and more Yuans will go into turning solar energy to electricity.

Ishita explains that the impact of the Chinese solar incentive program will not be immediate (Q3 and Q4 2009), and I have to agree with her. A company that is well positioned in the Chinese solar market is Canadian Solar, who has already won a couple of large projects there, and is headed by a Chinese CEO.

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