Solar Panel Price Dumping

The tension is heating up, the mercury is rising, but at the end of the day, we must all ask ourselves what is really going on with China and the rules and regulations in whatever country you live in.  And of course, we’re talking about the new fights that are consuming the talk and time within so many government and lobbyist groups throughout the world with regards to solar panel prices.  The US Government and Department of Energy are talking about how solar is so much on the rise, why would they want to stop the progress.

One one hand, there are the local countries such as the United States which are very concerned with the alleged dumping of solar panels and very low prices of PV panels on local markets by the Chinese.  And on the other hand there are the factories and companies outside of China that are struggling to produce low cost solar modules to compete with the ever growing Chinese production market.

For any economist who should be very familiar with the free market concepts, and I’m not just talking about people who work in the World Trade Organization (WTO) or other respected (or maybe un-respected) groups, the free market ideals don’t put up with the idea of price dumping.  Prices are set, and products are sold.  If a manufacturer is willing to place prices so low that they are at risk of losing money, well, that is a business mistake that is in almost all cases going to benefit the consumer, and to the masses, this should be looked at as a great opportunity to purchasing a great product at a low price.

It is not a mystery that solar panels produced in countries like the United States are often much more expensive when compared to the exact same solar panels produced abroad.  And when I say “exact same”, yes, you can duke it out that there are many differences, but the facts are the facts.  Panels when you look out energy output and ALL of the other minute variables are often virtually the same just with a different logo stamped on them.  That’s what the marketing guys are paid big bucks for, and yes, marketing costs hurt consumers as well.  So you do the math.

Would you rather pay higher prices for solar, which in turn means higher prices for clean energy, or would you rather get the cheapest possible prices on foreign solar panels made in China?  The choice currently is not yours, but maybe after the government completes the bickering that is currently going on, you may be able to decide afterall.