A new $300-million solar-panel factory sits just outside Mesa, Ariz., waiting to be sold for a $50-million loss. Never used by Tempe-based First Solar, the plant is symbolic of how solar-panel manufacturing has been hit hard by Chinese overproduction. Other solar plants have been mothballed, and General Electric has scrapped plans for a major Aurora, Colo., production facility.
Things could be looking up for U.S. manufacturers, however, as China, the global production leader, recently announced a ban on new capacity. "Because solar components were so cheap in China, not only the manufacturers but the entire supply chain set up shop there," says Daniel Holland, an equity analyst for Morningstar, Chicago. "This made it very hard for new entrants and new facilities here in the United States."