Solar panel prices to slide into next year

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A steep fall in the price of solar panels has chipped away at manufacturers’ profits this year, and relief is unlikely to come soon, as many in the industry believe pressure will intensify and push prices even lower into 2010 and perhaps even 2011.

Global demand for solar power soared last year until a pullback in solar incentives in Spain and a credit crisis that stifled financing for new projects led to a falloff in demand for solar panels and a global supply glut.

In turn, solar companies worldwide — including heavyweights like China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, U.S.-based First Solar Inc and Germany’s Q-Cells AG — have been forced to cut the price of their panels, hampering and in some cases erasing profits.

Reuters