A list of solar manufacturers which have restructured, left Australia or gone bankrupt over the past years.

In order to get follow up support for your solar panels and inverter it is important to be able to contact the manufacturer or their representatives. If the manufacturer has left the industry follow up service will be more difficult to obtain.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest-in-Peace-The-List-of-Deceased-Solar-Companies

Rest in Peace: The List of Deceased Solar Companies

The sad, inevitable results of the Venture Capital bubble and solar shakeout

We listed the more than 200 VC-funded solar startups back in 2008. We knew that we'd be writing about most of them on their way up -- as well as on their way down. Add one more solar company to the list of insolvent solar firms. It's one you may not have heard of: Concentrator Optics. The firm had received investment from Capricorn Venture Partners to build Fresnel lenses for the CPV market.

Capacity coming offline means less-efficient companies closing down. Of course there's another long list of relatively unknown Chinese companies closing down as well. 

Keeping track of failing solar companies in 2011 and 2012 bordered on full-time work. That was when solar manufacturing overcapacity and price pressure brutally culled the field. The 2014 dead pool is much smaller and much less painful to view.

This is an updated list of solar companies that have closed, gone bankrupt, become insolvent, ended up in assignment for benefit of creditors, or have been acquired in less than positive circumstances. Although there is a macabre element to this list, it's actually positive news for the industry. The solar companies left standing in 2015 are the firms with effective business plans and value to add to the marketplace. The survivors made it through the bottleneck of the early 21st century solar market.

Here's the updated list of the solar firms that have fought the good fight but have moved on.

2009 to 2010 - Bankrupt, closed, acquired

Advent Solar (emitter wrap-through Si) acquired by Applied Materials

Applied Solar (solar roofing) acquired by Quercus Trust

OptiSolar (a-Si on a grand scale) - OptiSolar’s utility projects were acquired by First Solar; its manufacturing line was sold to NovaSolar.

Ready Solar (PV installation) acquired by SunEdison

Solasta (nano-coaxial solar) closed

SV Solar (low-concentration PV) closed

Senergen (depositing silane onto free-form metallurgical-grade Si substrates) closed

Signet Solar (a-Si) bankrupt

Sunfilm (a-Si) bankrupt

Wakonda (GaAs) acquired by Siva

2011  - Bankrupt, closed

EPV Solar (a-Si) bankrupt

Evergreen (drawn Si) bankrupt

Solyndra (CIGS) bankrupt

SpectraWatt (c-Si) bankrupt

Stirling Energy Systems (dish engine) bankrupt

2011 - Acquisition, sale

Ascent Solar (CIGS) acquired by TFG Radiant

Calyxo (CdTe) acquired by Solar Fields from Q.cells 

HelioVolt (CIGS) acquired by Korea's SK Innovation

National Semiconductor Solar Magic (panel optimizers) exited systems business

NetCrystal (silicon on flexible substrate) acquired by Solar Semiconductor

Soliant (CPV) acquired by Emcore

2012 - Bankrupt, closed

Abound Solar (CdTe) bankrupt

AQT (CIGS) closed

Ampulse (thin silicon) closed

Arise Technology (PV modules) bankrupt

Azuray (microinverters) closed

BP (c-Si panels) exits solar business

Centrotherm (PV manufacturing equipment) bankrupt and restructured

CSG (c-Si on glass) closed by Suntech

Day4Energy (cell interconnects) delisted from TSX exchange

ECD (a-Si) bankrupt

Energy Innovations (CPV) bankrupt

Flexcell (a-Si roll-roll BIPV) closed

Gadir Solar (a-Si PV) Spain-based customer of Oerlikon Solar closed

GlobalWatt (solar) closed

GreenVolts (CPV) closed

Global Solar Energy (CIGS) closed

G24i (DSCs) bankrupt in 2012, re-emerged as G24i Power with new investors

Hoku (polysilicon) shut down its Idaho polysilicon production facility

Inventux (a-Si) bankrupt

Konarka (OSCs) bankrupt

Odersun (CIGS) bankrupt

Pramac (a-Si panels built with equipment from Oerlikon) insolvent 

Pairan (Germany inverters) insolvent

Ralos (developer) bankrupt

REC Wafer (c-Si) –Norway operation - bankrupt

Satcon (BoS) bankrupt

Schott (c-Si) exits c-Si business

Schuco (a-Si) shutting down its a-Si business

Sencera (a-Si) closed

Siliken (c-Si modules) closed

Skyline Solar (LCPV) closed

Siemens (CSP, inverters, BOS) divestment from solar

Solar Millennium (developer) insolvent

Solarhybrid (developer) insolvent

Sovello (Q.cells, Evergreen, REC JV) bankrupt

SolarDay (c-Si modules) insolvent

Solar Power Industries (PV modules) bankrupt

Soltecture (CIGS BIPV) bankrupt

Sun Concept (developer) bankrupt

2012 Acquisition, fire sale, restructuring

Oelmaier(Germany inverters) insolvent, bought by agricultural supplier Lehner Agrar

Q.Cells (c-Si) insolvent, acquired by South Korea's Hanwha

Sharp (a-Si) backing away from a-Si, retiring 160 of its 320 megawatts in Japan

Solibro (CIGS) Q-Cells unit acquired by China's Hanergy

Solon (c-Si) acquired by UAE's Microsol 

Scheuten Solar (BIPV) bankrupt, then acquired by Aikosolar

Sunways (c-Si, inverters) bought by LDK, restructuring to focus on BIPV and storage

2013, Bankrupt, closed

Array Converter (Module-level power electronics) bankrupt, IP to VC investor

Avancis (CIGS) discontinuing production

Bosch (c-Si PV module) exists module business

Concentrator Optics (CPV) bankrupt

Cyrium(CPV semiconductors) bankrupt

Direct Grid (microinverters) closed

Green Ray (microinverters) closed

Helios Solar (c-Si modules) bankrupt

Hoku Solar (silicon) bankrupt

Honda Soltec (CIGS thin-film modules) closing

Infinia (Stirling engine CSP) bankrupt

Nanosolar (CIGS) closed

Pythagoras Solar (BIPV) closed

Solarion (CIGS) went bankrupt but restructured and in limited production

SolFocus (CPV) bankrupt

Sunsil (module level electronics) closed

Suntech Wuxi (c-Si) bankrupt

Tioga (project developer) closed

Willard & Kelsey (CdTe panels) bankrupt

ZenithSolar (CHP) bankrupt

2013 Acquired

Agile Energy (project developer) acquired by RES Americas

Bosch (c-Si PV module) acquired by Solar World

Diehl (Germany inverters) inverter division sold to PE firm mutares AG

Conergy (c-Si module) -- Astronergy, a part of China's Chint Group, acquired Conergy's PV module manufacturing assets. Kawa Capital Management purchased the solar projects business.

GE-Primestar (CdTe technology acquired from PrimeStar) acquired by First Solar

Global Solar Energy (CIGS) acquired by Hanergy

Infinia (Stirling engine CSP) assets acquired by Israel's Qnergy

MiaSolé (CIGS) acquired by China's Hanergy

NuvoSun (CIGS) acquired by Dow

Suntech Wuxi (c-Si) acquired by Shunfeng Photovoltaic International for $492 million

Twin Creeks (kerfless Si) IP and other assets acquired by GT Advanced Technology

Wuerth Solar (installer) business turned over to BayWa

Wuerth Solar (CIGS line) taken over by Manz

Zenith Solar (CHP) acquired by Suncore

2014 Bankrupt, closed

Areva's solar business (CSP) closed -- Suffering through a Fukushima-inspired slowdown in reactor sales, Ausra.

HelioVolt (CIGS thin-film PV) closed

LDK (vertically integrated module builder) filed for bankruptcy

Masdar PV (a-Si) closed its SunFab-based amorphous silicon PV factory in Germany.

SolarMax (PV inverters) -- Swiss inverter maker SolarMax's parent firm, Sputnik Engineering, filed for insolvency.

Sopogy (small-scale CSP) closed

TEL (a-Si) withdrew from its a-Si solar business

Xunlight (a-Si) went bankrupt

2014 Acquisition, sale

Emcore's CPV business -- Suncore acquired the remaining interest in Emcore's CPV business.

RSI (CdTe PV panels) sold to Chinese strategic -- RSI, a VC-funded cadmium telluride thin-film solar module startup formerly known as Reel Solar, was acquired by an undisclosed "Chinese strategic," according to the company's CEO.

Solar Junction (CPV semiconductors) sold to Saudi strategic

SAG Solarstrom a bankrupt PV project developer, was sold to Shunfeng Photovoltaic, the new owner of PV panel builder Suntech, in an $85 million deal. Germany's SAG Solarstrom ranked among the top ten of PV O&M providers in the world in 2013.

While a lot of these company details now back a few years - the key fact is that since 2014 over 300 solar panel manufacturers, who had panels registered and sold in Australia with long warranties have left the country, leaving many panels and models unsupported in the  product warranty and the 25 year performance warranty. If you have never heard of the brand, then make your enquiries as to the solidity of the manufacturer. LG is the largest electronics consumer brand in the solar space in Australia.