Q-Cells bankrupt

[MorganPVI]

Twilight of an Industry: Bankruptcies Have German Solar on the Ropes - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

[Jaycee]

Twilight of an Industry: Bankruptcies Have German Solar on the Ropes - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Sad news, but is it a sign of things to come ?

 

[finchy]

yes indeed ! I just hope panel warranties for customers would be protected ....?

 

[Jaycee]

yes indeed ! I just hope panel warranties for customers would be protected ....?

Now that could be a whole can of worms

 

[whinmoor]

I had an email today from a supplier advertising Q-Cells modules. Never used them so can't comment on quality but it seems that the Asian companies are slowly wiping out the European and American competition.

 

[finchy]

Do the warranties needed to be backed by insurance company ? So would the insurance company pick up the tab......

 

[Glen Powell]

Qcell had really good panels and I am really, really unhappy that they are one of the first to go, performance was really good and they could not compete with the cheaper lesser performing panels. Let this be a lesson to all those trying to make a quick buck by buying cheap tat, you destroy the market.

Do not devalue brands, every brand has its place in the market, with those at the bottom and those at the top. I have noticed vendors trying to drag those at the top down with price wars. If you sell on price alone it means you have no value as a company, being competetive is not all about price, right product, right service, right company and right price for all the afore mentioned.

Biggest selling point is knowledge, knowing your products and others on the market. If sales people could be more honest with their predictions on return on investment based on inverter / panel choice then we would all see room an equal market place.

I suppose SAPs could have a role in this as it allows vendors to sell any old crap to the customers with a basic calculation of earnings, this is not just in the UK as I beleive most of Europe adopted a similar calculation.

 

[SolarCity]

I agree that it is sad that a decent brand has gone bankrupt.

However, I'm not entirely in agreement that the price wars are such a bad thing. The prices coming down is meaning that PV energy is becoming more and more viable. It may be the case that the Q Cell panels produced more than some of the Asian panels (not that I have any evidence to support this) but are they disproportionately priced?

 

[Glen Powell]

I spoke to Qcells this morning and Allthough Qcells Germany has now appointed an Administrator, Qcell USA, QCell UK, QCell Australia are not part of the administration process.

QCells Germany will be restructured and may survive and / or be sold.

Its not possitive news but it is more possitive than them dissappearing all together.

 

[FB.]

Qcell had really good panels and I am really, really unhappy that they are one of the first to go, performance was really good and they could not compete with the cheaper lesser performing panels. Let this be a lesson to all those trying to make a quick buck by buying cheap tat, you destroy the market.

Do not devalue brands, every brand has its place in the market, with those at the bottom and those at the top. I have noticed vendors trying to drag those at the top down with price wars. If you sell on price alone it means you have no value as a company, being competetive is not all about price, right product, right service, right company and right price for all the afore mentioned.

Biggest selling point is knowledge, knowing your products and others on the market. If sales people could be more honest with their predictions on return on investment based on inverter / panel choice then we would all see room an equal market place.

I suppose SAPs could have a role in this as it allows vendors to sell any old crap to the customers with a basic calculation of earnings, this is not just in the UK as I beleive most of Europe adopted a similar calculation.

If the government hadn't been rocking the boat at the time I was looking to install panels, I would probably have gone for top-notch panels.
But not knowing where the FiT might be at the time of installation (generally I expect most companies not to deliver anywhere close to "on time" - solar actually appear quite reliable, but I didn't know that at the time).
With fear of the government moving the goalposts perhaps in future (especially given the possible need for further massive government spending cuts in future to get the debts under control left by the last government), I might be lucky to see a return of my money, let alone a return on my money.
So, given the uncertainty and lack of trust in any government, I opted for cheaper panels with a quality inverter because I reasoned that I stood to lose £3k less on my purchase price if FiT payments didn't go according to plan or installation was delayed (my array cost £9k all-in, Sanyo would have cost £12k all-in; the panels themselves being twice the price; £6k v £3k).
If my cheap panels fail, I can probably replace them with much higher quality panels in several years time for a fraction of today's cost, as is the usual trend for electronics.

Do my panels match Sanyo's in my area? No, I don't think they do.
However, I think that Sanyo's give about 10% more generation than mine, but the whole installation would have cost 30% more.

If I had to depend on the panels, I would have gone for (perceived) higher quality.

 

[FB.]

Look on the bright side, though.....

If we have no money left to spend, and no more room to borrow, and nothing of much value to sell to the rest of the world, and no incentive for companies to invest in "expensive" UK production, then it is only a matter of time before the GB Pound loses strength against other currencies because nobody overseas would have any reason to want GB Pounds.
Eventually, a weaker Pound would make UK businesses more competitive and kickstart UK industry and farming again.
But a weaker currency isn't all roses; the adjustment period of weak currency and import-dependence will result in an uncomfortable rise in the cost of living for many households and a somewhat lower quality of life in general in the UK.
So we'll have a return industry, farming and high levels of employment, but coupled with a high cost of living until we get fully up to self-sufficiency again.

 

[Glen Powell]

Warranties are at present safe and some of the products are insuarance backed, Qcells have had internal meetings all day today (Understandable) and I am to beleive Internal and external anouncements will be made.

I have took an interest in other tier 1 companies and it looks like there are going to be a few in the same boat now the bubble has burst with losses in the 100's Millions.

FB my comments before were not aimed at you but suppliers / installers devaluing a product, there is cheap then value for money and premium. The premium products are all pretty much consistant in price however a few companies have tried to devalue the product. Value for money / mid range vary a lot and this is the likes of your Power-one with canadian although I see both as a premium product.

The cheap products are the likes of ET / Amerisolar Panels with Chint or similar inverters. My concern is more to do with the honesty that they are sold.

How many would do a PVsol on a clients property and leave it with them?? I know most on here probably would. I have seen customers in the past based in Angelsey with a PVsol report with sharps performing better than Canadian, the problem was the Sharp PVsol shown in Bournemouth with south facing roof as canadian shown Vally with 40 degrees off asmuth.

Qcell were one of the first in the crap and hopefully one of the first out, downside is they may have to outsource more of their manufacturing which may devalue their own product.

 

[FB.]

....FB my comments before were not aimed at you.....

Hi Glen

I never assumed that they were directed at me, nor anyone else in particular. :wink_smile:

I just thought that members might be interested in a reason why I didn't want to spend a lot in a period of upheaval and uncertainty.
For the record: the Sanyo's were not out of my price range; "affordability" wasn't an issue, but government-induced uncertainty was a big issue, plus also weighing-up whether I'd get 30% more performance from Sanyo's to justify the extra cost.