Economic Slowdown Challenges Solar Industry-EPIA

The economic slowdown, regulatory conflicts and competition from China pose the main risks to future growth of the solar industry, the head of the European Photovoltaic Industry Associations told Reuters.

“The two key elements for me are the regulatory conflict in Europe, particularly in Germany with the revision of the feed-in law, and globally the economic slowdown,” Adel El Gammal, secretary general of EPIA, said in an interview.
He expressed dismay at a Washington Post report that Chinese silicon manufacturers were polluting the environment with production waste.

“We are condemning very strongly these practices,” El Gammal said, adding such practices damaged the industry’s reputation and unsettled the market by undercutting production costs.

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