Chinese solar producer Suntech declares bankruptcy

Post by dguido » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 4:16 AM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #5

Some of the reporting on Suntech by other news organizations is quite interesting. From "China’s Solar Billionaire Undone as Banks Push Suntech to Brink" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-20/china-s-solar-billi... comes this striking summary of the market: "'Being in the solar manufacturing industry over the past eight years has been an excellent way to turn a big fortune into a small one,' said Jenny Chase, lead…

Post by jseliger » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 4:27 AM UTC

reportingsjr wrote: post #2

It turns out when you sell products near cost to gain as much market share as possible, not only do you shut them down, but you will eventually get shut down. Who would have thought?

Post by yekko » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 4:38 AM UTC

rurounijones wrote: post #10

TwoBit wrote: post #8

I've been looking into Solar for my house and it's hard to justify. A $15,000 installation pays back only $150 a month in electricity. This is little more than what I could get by putting that $15,000 into a mutual fund.

Does that pay back calculation include the fact that this increases the resale value of your house?

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 4:58 AM UTC

JulianK wrote: post #17

TwoBit wrote: post #8

I've been looking into Solar for my house and it's hard to justify. A $15,000 installation pays back only $150 a month in electricity. This is little more than what I could get by putting that $15,000 into a mutual fund.

I know you were just making a rough comparison, but $150 is 1% of 15000. If you're saying you spend $150/month in electricity and that's barely more than you get from a mutual fund, are you saying you get on the order of 12% a year from your mutual funds, even today? I need different mutual funds.

Post by jcampbell1 » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 5:05 AM UTC

TwoBit wrote: post #8

I've been looking into Solar for my house and it's hard to justify. A $15,000 installation pays back only $150 a month in electricity. This is little more than what I could get by putting that $15,000 into a mutual fund.