The changing solar industry
The July 1989 announcement that Atlantic Richfield had agreed to sell its ARCO Solar division to Siemens of West Germany sent shock waves throughout the U.S. photovoltaics (PV) industry, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and among investigators. The largest PV manufacturer in the world was being sold because it had failed to make enough money for its parent company, and a foreign company was purchasing it - presumably because no U.S. company or investor package had come up with a high enough offer. Given the millions of dollars in government financed research and development funds that ARCO had benefited from, some government officials talked of blocking the sale, an effort that could only have succeeded if it was demonstrated that the sale would compromise national security - which was not the case. With the acquisition scheduled to be completed on February 28, 1990 - the newly acquired company will be called Siemens Solar Industries - many in the industry were wondering what the impact on the industry would be. Would buy-America sentiment help Siemens Solar's competitors Would investors become nervous over the potential profitability of any PV companies and pull back Would it become more difficult to obtain R D funds from a now gun-shy Department of Energy These questions are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 5379378
- Journal Information:
- Independent Energy; (United States), Vol. 20:3; ISSN 1043-7320
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ECONOMICS
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
FINANCING
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MARKET
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLIES
PRICES
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140300* - Solar Energy- Economic
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& Business Aspects
140600 - Solar Energy- Photovoltaic Power Systems