This was a jam-packed week for solar news, so forgive me in advance if I missed something.
eSolar made serious Sino-waves with a major project announcement in China over the weekend. You can read all about that one right here. One thing I did not mention is that the concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) company is looking at integrating biomass generation, which could allow the power plants to operate at 90% of capacity. That would significantly boost the already-impressive 65% capacity factor that Sandia Labs has estimated that a molten-salt power tower could be expected to achieve.
On Monday, Solarfun Power
On Tuesday, there were some bullish announcements by Suntech Power
As for JA Solar, the cell maker projected global demand of as much as nine gigawatts this year. The company appears to be making strong inroads in overseas markets, and said that it may exit 2010 with 50% of sales going outside of China.
On Wednesday, France cut its feed-in tariff subsidy by 24%. That sounds draconian, but the previous rate was a ridiculous $0.80 per watt. The new rate is in line with the current German rate.
This move didn't really appear to disturb solar investors. A Reuters report on Thursday that Germany may cut its own tariff by 16% to 17% as early as April was not received with equanimity, however. Shares tanked pretty much across the board, with Chinese players like Canadian Solar
So, was the selloff an overreaction? I'm keen to hear your thoughts.