Pricing and Rules are Up in the Air Yesterday, the OPA announced that the official review of Ontario’s FIT and microFIT programs is finally underway. The results of the review may have broad-reaching implications for the solar PV, wind, biomass, micro hydro industries and the overall Cleantech sector. As part of the review process, the OPA has scheduled a teleconference for tomorrow morning, 2 November 2011, at 10 am EDT. The...

Solar Industry on a Roller Coaster Polysilicon spot prices have dipped below $40 per kg. Yesterday, summarizing insights gained from last week’s Solar Power International (SPI) conference, Mercom Capital Group forecast a “Poly Price Collapse”. Crisis? Or not? While poly production may not yet be in crisis, red ink in downstream PV module production has become a critical industry issue. Last week, Mehdi Hosseini of Susquehanna...

Hydropower – can there be too much of a good thing? As discussed at the recent CanSIA Solar West Conference, when hydropower is compared to PV power on a value basis, the results are surprising. PV today can be more economical than hydropower. Hydropower is considered to be the most economic way to generate electricity today, and provides almost one-fifth of the world’s electricity. Solar PV, on the other hand, is widely...

2010 PV Industry Cell Production - declining share in growing market For years now, analysts have looked at the solar PV industry with its red-hot growth, and predicted near-term shakeout and consolidation. The continued rapid growth rate within the PV industry is a textbook example of how high industry growth rates can dominate competitive influences. At its breakneck pace, even the largest PV cell manufacturers have struggled to keep...

Ontario Legislative Building - the Pink Palace is seeing red Just a few weeks ago, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party was a no show at the Ontario Feed-In Tariff Forum. The Party provided a written statement instead of joining their political counterparts at the large gathering of industry executives. This Tuesday, however, the party leader spoke up and it is not good news. According to the Globe and Mail, “Ontario Progressive...

Boston Harbor - revolution birthplace The theme of last week’s Lux Executive Summit was innovation without borders. China was a focus, as was the topic of whether corporate venture capital and private venture capital can get along. Based upon the large number of corporate venture capital representatives, that question had a high degree of resonance with the attendees. According to Andrew Williamson from Physic Ventures, though, the...

Toronto City Hall - PV Market Overshadowed by Politics The second Ontario Feed-In Tariff Supply Chain Forum was held in Toronto last week. While the Ontario FIT program is showing signs of success and maturation, there were plenty of concerns expressed and lots of candid dialog. In the run-up to this Forum, the Feed-In Tariff program was still going through fits (sic) and starts with connection issues, or the lack thereof, affecting all...