AS Published on Tuesday 11 October 2022 - n° 419 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the priority to be given to war, energy prices, inflation, interest rates
A look at the priority to be given to the war, energy prices, inflation, interest rates
Europe has four urgent problems to deal with: the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices, inflation, rising interest rates. How should these issues be prioritised? How can we get out of the pressure of each of these four factors, when each of them has an effect on the daily life of the French (Europeans)?
The urgency of the problems to be solved means that their incorporation into a long-term view, into the definition of a desirable future, into a strategic plan
Will we be subjected to them or will we remain masters of our own destiny?
AS Published on Tuesday 4 October 2022 - n° 418 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at European PV dynamism versus Indian dynamism
The sky is darkening for the European photovoltaic industry. It does not seem to have regained its pre-covid dynamism. It has been targeted by the European Commission as one of the beneficiaries of rising electricity prices. It now faces rising interest rates.
Indian photovoltaics is supported by the government. Manufacturers have launched large capacity expansion programmes and have come up with new products to match the Chinese ones. Europeans are not participating in this expansion
L R AS Published on Tuesday 27 September 2022 - n° 417 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the labour shortage and its response
The professional unions draw the attention of the public authorities to the administrative obstacles to obtaining building permits. They also insist on the shortage of manpower for construction. Various solutions have been put forward: increasing professional training, giving bonuses or advantages when recruiting, insisting on the promotions offered by these trades of the future.
The Western world has always been confronted with a shortage of labour. When the shortage was too great, a solution was found in the automation of the activity. Photovoltaics seems to have reached this limit. It needs to move towards a greater use of machines. Plant construction equipment is already appearing. This is the "New Frontier" of photovoltaics. This deserves to be examined
L R AS Published on Tuesday 20 September 2022 - n° 416 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the European Commission's proposal to tackle the upcoming crisis
As winter approaches and gas consumption rises, the European Commission is proposing to reduce demand and recover considerable amounts of money that would have been taken from European consumers. It proposes to give it back to them in the form of aid or subsidies.
There is no guarantee that the amount announced will match the amount collected. There is no guarantee that the winter will go by without power cuts. The considerable increase in the price of electricity is a drain on household purchasing power and disrupts businesses: A European recession is very possible following the unfortunate European embargo on Russia.
We need to take a better look at what this proposal from the European Commission is all about.
L R AS Published on Tuesday 13 September 2022 - n° 415 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the review of our certainties in photovoltaics
The most serious commentators (INSEE, Banque de France, IFO, Bundesbank in Germany) are very pessimistic. They warn of the consequences of price increases, whether for energy, manufactured goods, food, etc. They warn about the low revaluation of salaries and the significant loss of purchasing power of the population.
This difficult period, which should be over by 2024 at the earliest, or the end of the war in Ukraine, should be used to review in depth the habits, beliefs and objectives that were previously set. This is because the certainties of availability, practicality and economic conditions (interest rates) have changed. It is best to take a moment to study the changes and see how to adapt to them. This is necessary in order to emerge from this approaching crisis in good conditions.
AS Published on Tuesday 6 September 2022 - n° 414 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the Defence Council
The Defence Council in France was held in secret. Nothing leaked out. All we know is that there is nothing to worry about, that the government is there. Yet several public bodies have been sounding the alarm for several months, indicating that the situation is serious. Despite the government's silence, gas and electricity prices are rising, indicating a deteriorating situation. The situation is deteriorating, with price rises becoming more widespread, inflation at its highest level in decades and interest rates rising. This leads to a very likely recession without even rationing of gas and electricity supplies. This affects all French people, all Europeans, all because of the clumsy sanctions taken by the European Commission which is now silent. The damage is done and well done!
AS Published on Sunday 10 July 2022 - n° 412 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the silicon context
The price of silicon is rising. It goes up every month. It sets in motion a mechanism of increase. In a Western economic logic, the shortage increases the price to distribute the small quantity. The Chinese logic is quite different. You have to know it and it applies exactly to the case of silicon
AS Published on Wednesday 6 July 2022 - n° 411 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the disruption of the world and of photovoltaics in particular
PvXchange has started the ball rolling: no more power plants can be built in Europe because something essential is always missing. Even residential roofs are delayed. Deliveries have an unknown date. The elements that may be supplied cannot be known! What is happening with photovoltaics is just an illustration of the current European world: it is going through a brutal inflation whose effects are still to come. The European world is going haywire.
AS Published on Wednesday 29 June 2022 - n° 410 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the disadvantages and advantages of the war in Ukraine
Four months after the invasion of Ukraine, the evolution of the European situation is becoming clearer. Almost everything has been changed or turned upside down. Disadvantages have arisen, advantages are emerging. A period of change has begun. Will we be able to choose the paths for a sustainable 21st century?
L R AS Published on Wednesday 22 June 2022 - n° 409 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the dangers of lithium
Lithium has become an established ingredient in electric vehicle batteries to provide endurance, speed and therefore practicality. However, the danger of lithium to human life has just been highlighted. The European Commission is seized of the problem. It has to decide. What is the situation?
L R AS Published on Wednesday 15 June 2022 - n° 408 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the explosion in demand and prices for panels in the second half of 2022
The major news this week is US President Biden's decision to lift tariff restrictions on panel imports from South East Asia. This decision is in line with the installer lobby, but it takes away the prospect of rebuilding a panel production industry on US soil.
The extra buying by US installers will be superimposed on the increased Chinese and European demand. Prices will rise sharply in the second half of 2022 and into 2023. There will be no lull in prices.
L R AS Published on Wednesday 8 June 2022 - n° 407 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at solar 2022, chronicle of a disaster foretold
The economic and financial conditions in the photovoltaic field have completely reversed compared to two years ago. Everything has changed. The price of silicon, and therefore of panels, and the price of metals have soared. The freight rate is four times higher than before Covid. Electricity prices are nothing like they were twelve months ago! What does this mean for the industry (developers, builders, manufacturers, subcontractors)?
L R AS Published on Tuesday 31 May 2022 - n° 406 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the supply difficulties of the photovoltaic sector
The photovoltaic industry seems to be hampered by supply difficulties. Wholesalers no longer know when they will receive a shipment, how much and at what price. Without panels, developers have to stop building plants. As always, the difficulties extend to electronic circuits for inverters and batteries; the whole profession is affected by these difficulties, which do not seem likely to be resolved quickly.
The European authorities want to develop solar energy. How will they do this if there are no or not enough panels?
AS Published on Wednesday 25 May 2022 - n° 405 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at a reason for hope: the President/Vice-President of the European Commission debate
In recent days, the pages of the newspapers have been filled with the words of the President of the European Commission, with her REPowerEU programme. It was supposed to be aimed at reducing dependence on Russian gas. This gas is being targeted because it is a hydrocarbon which makes environmentalists react. We could just as easily have reacted against Russian food imports such as wheat, barley, sunflower oil, aluminium, ... We preferred to target Russian gas! To provide an alternative to this gas target, the use of renewable energies has been favoured, but it will take time for the multiplication of panels or windmills to provide energy independence.
Curiously, in this very ecologist environment, another very authoritative voice was heard two or three days after this programme was described. It was unexpected. It indicated a second vision of Europe. It preached for greater lucidity, for another policy, to announce that the purchasing power of Europeans would be permanently affected.
Do we need soothing announcements or lucid words?
AS Published on Tuesday 17 May 2022 - n° 404 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at an energy transition that's off to a bad start
A look at an energy transition that is off to a bad start
The European Commission is expected to present its roadmap for tackling the EU's dependence on Russian gas, and to steer countries towards what is called the green transition with more renewable electricity and a limitation or halt in fossil fuel consumption. But will it be able to avoid noisy and ill-advised advice? BloombergNEF has presented the two alternatives, which are discussed below.