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.
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