No country within the world makes more solar panels than China. Solar panels are providing an advantage to the United States military in Afghanistan where conventional options for energy are not practical. The military spending bill signed into law Jan. 7 excludes solar power panels from China as an official visit to the U.S. by Hu Jintao, China’s president, is scheduled for next week. Taking out a payday loan to be power efficient could pay down in China.
Clean energy in China
Talks about solar panels will likely be contentious next week. This will be for the U.S./China trade talks specifically. The Beijing government subsidizes the Chinese solar panel manufacturers. In the $29 billion international market, this accounts for about half. China has been accused by members of Congress of breaking free trade rules that the World Trade Organization laid out while the U.S. is trying to keep china from leading in the clean energy industry. China will be subsidizing the solar panel manufacturers. On the other hand, the U.S. only gives subsidies to solar panel buyers. In order to benefit from government subsidies, most of the Chinese solar power manufacturers are putting their product in the U.S.
The only thing discussed in China/U.S. trade talks is the clean energy dispute
Requiring the U.S. military to buy only American-made solar panels is bound to generate criticism from Chinese officials on the eve of Hu’s visit. There were many objections from China a few years ago when the 900 billion economic stimulus package passed. This was because a "buy American" provision was added for the construction materials such as steel that was bought by the government. However, in 2009, China required that its entire $600 billion economic stimulus package be spent in-country. The Obama administration is preparing a case against Chinese clean energy subsidies it plans to bring before the WTO. Solar and wind energy exports with government subsidies are supposedly illegal. This supposedly creates a competitive disadvantage for European companies and U.S. companies.
Buying a European solar energy company is China
It seems the U.S. is only interested in getting trade restrictions on solar panels put in place. China wants to be the top dog in the clean energy industries though. State-owned China National BlueStar Corp. announced the purchase of Norwegian solar panel manufacturer Elkem for $2 billion. China’s acquisition of Elkem gives it cutting edge solar energy technology made by a company entrenched in the European market.
Citations
New York Times
finance.yahoo.com/news/Pentagon-Must-Buy-American-nytimes-512023817.html?x=0&.v=1
UPI
upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/10/No-foreign-solar-panels-for-US-military/UPI-50331294678189/
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0111/Solar-panels-China-buys-Norwegian-unit
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