BOSTON, June 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GTM Research and Greentech Media learned this morning that Abound Solar will be shutting its doors as soon as Thursday, June 28 after failing to find a buyer. GTM Research analysts, MJ Shiao and Shyam Mehta comment on the company closure below.
"Abound Solar's closure is an unfortunate but very real consequence of the continued slide in crystalline silicon (c-Si) pricing and the increased competition for limited global demand of solar modules," said MJ Shiao, Senior Analyst at GTM Research. "Abound was still in the earlier stages of technology and commercial development and despite over $220 million in private investment and $70 million drawn from its $400 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee, simply didn't have the cost and downstream reach to survive in the tumultuous solar market."
GTM Research notes that c-Si module prices, which fell by nearly 50% over the course of 2011, will continue to drop, possibly reaching $0.76 per watt by the end of this year (versus $1.04 per watt in Q4 2011). In the current pricing environment, module manufacturers need to be well-capitalized in order to survive the shakeout. Abound suspended commercial production early in the first quarter of 2012 to retool with a higher efficiency product by the end of the year. Today's announcement indicates that its cash preservation survival strategy was too late and not aggressive enough.
FIGURE Abound Solar - Costs Estimated by GTM Research Based on Roadmaps, 2011-2016E: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?0lzieycpvghcgiy
"Abound's cadmium telluride (CdTe) product had little differentiation from First Solar and also suffered from lower efficiency," said Shyam Mehta, a Senior Analyst at GTM. "Produced at lower scale and likely a higher cost, the chance for survival in the current market environment was always slim. Unfortunately, Abound and other module manufacturing closures including thin film and c-Si suppliers alike, is still just the tip of the iceberg. GTM Research forecasts at least 21 GW of PV module manufacturing capacity to retire by the end of 2015."
For further comment from GTM Research, please contact VP of Research, Shayle Kann at kann@gtmresearch or by phone at +1 617 500 4216.
Background Information:
- PV Technology, Production and Cost Outlook: 2012-2016
- Thin Film 2012–2016: Technologies, Markets and Strategies for Survival
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