By Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009 – 2010)

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone

There has been more than a little excitement about solar manufacturing in the United States and how it will would surely create thousands of  jobs for United States citizens.  Something must have happened on the way to success as the hype seems to be much greater than actual results.  According to this March 27th article from the American Spectator, solar manufacurers are not as keen on the United States as indicated a year or so ago.  Here is what was said back when things were rosy:

As impressive as the current boom is, Mike Eckhart, president of ACORE (American Council of Renewable Energy), forecasted an even brighter future for solar at the same CDMA event, particularly for the United States, which has only recently thrown the full weight of government subsidies and tax benefits behind the technology. “My prediction is in two years, solar will really take off,” Eckhart said. Admitting that the U.S. is the “laggard” in solar, Eckhart said he believes the country will catch up to the current market leader, Germany, which had 2000 MW of new solar capacity installed in 2009.

Let’s move to the present and and look at an article from The Washington Post as quoted in The American Spectator. The outlook forecast above doesn’t seem to gibe with the present facts:

BP will close its solar-panel manufacturing plant in Frederick, the final step in moving its solar business out of the United States to facilities in China, India and other countries….

…“We remain absolutely committed to solar,” BP chief executive Tony Hayward said in an interview Friday. But he said BP was “moving to where we can manufacture cheaply.

An article on The Foundry website seems to have been a harbinger of what BP and other industry “giants’ are not building here as they leave the United States for China, India and maybe, Pacific Rim locations.  Here’s a link to the article.  By the way, The Foundry is a publication of  The Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization.

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