Posted on Thu, May 17, 2012 @ 02:52 PM
Written by Michael Eland, President of Eland Electric
First, it was steel. Then came paper. Now, unless the Obama administration acts, Wisconsin's solar manufacturing industry will be the next victim of China's efforts to undercut American manufacturers and destroy jobs.As the president of a company that installs solar systems in the Green Bay area, I have seen the impact of China's efforts first-hand. In the past, we had dozens of options to choose from when buying solar panels. Chinese companies were on the same playing field as the rest.
Today, the situation is quite different. The Chinese dominate the solar industry, representing more than half of the market. How did things change so quickly? The reason: China's tried and true practices of subsidies and dumping.
The Chinese national and provincial governments have provided subsidies at mind-boggling levels. Consider this: between 2002 and 2009, China provided its paper industry $33.1 billion in subsidies that were used to cripple Wisconsin's paper industry. In 2010 alone, the Energy Department estimates the Chinese solar industry got more than $30 billion. Moreover, Chinese CEOs admit they have been dumping their modules at prices they admit are unsustainable.
Posted on Tue, Apr 03, 2012 @ 01:26 PM
We are competitors by nature in Milwaukee, whether it's rooting on our small-market Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers or whether it's protecting our standards of living in a community that's second to none.
Helios, a Milwaukee-based solar panel manufacturing company, is competitive, too, and we deliver innovative world-class products. Lately, though, the American solar industry has been undermined by Chinese trade practices that are putting U.S. manufacturing jobs at risk.
At Helios, we believe American manufacturers certainly can compete with Chinese solar manufacturers. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy found that, once you add in the cost of shipping, Chinese solar panels are actually more expensive to produce than American ones. However, we simply cannot compete with the Chinese government and Chinese manufacturers. It's not a pretty story.
From 2008 to 2010, China's exports of solar cells and panels to the United States jumped an astonishing 350%. How did China achieve this growth? The Chinese government was unfairly subsidizing its own solar companies to the tune of $34 billion, and Chinese manufacturers were dumping their products in the U.S. market.
A U.S. Senate report released in February outlined some of the impacts:
-
The U.S. trade deficit in environmental goods with China reached an all-time high in 2011. The U.S. went from a trade surplus in solar products in 2010 to a $1.6 billion deficit in 2011.
-
U.S. imports of solar cells and modules from China went up 135% in 2011.
-
European Union and Japanese exporters of environmental goods are also losing market share to China in global markets.
-
The results? A 40% collapse in prices in the past year forced 12 American plants to close or downsize during the past 18 months.
Posted on Tue, Mar 27, 2012 @ 05:56 PM
A Bright Beacon of Hope for Renewable Energy
..."We invite Helios customers to our manufacturing facility to watch their modules being assembled," advises General Manager Brent Brucker, who relishes the opportunity to answer questions for visitors, especially those who are curious about why Helios chose Milwaukee for its headquarters. "The first reason is that three of the company's founders are native Wisconsinites," he says, tallying Milwaukee's other attributes: It's a manufacturing city, people have a strong work ethic and show up at their jobs despite inclement weather; and the area is home to a significant number of skilled craftsmen.
The city also benefits from local manufacturing infastructure. "Within a short distance, we can have special glass and machinery built, as well as wire produced. This allows us to expand our support of the local economy and save on shipping," explains Brucker, who also credits the Wisconsin Department of Commerce's State Energy Program, which provided Helios with a $1.4 million clean energy loan.
One of the myths that Brucker enjoys dispelling is that Wisconsin doesn't receive enough sunshine to support the solar industry. "The most successful country in the global solar market is Germany, which gets the same amount of sun as Seattle and Alaska. Wisconsin gets more sun than either," he says.
Posted on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 @ 03:06 PM
Milwaukee-based high-efficiency monocrystalline PV module manufacturer, Helios Solar Works is the first founding member of the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), outside SolarWorld to declare itself a supporter of actions that will lead to duties being applied to solar cells and modules from China. Seven firms with manufacturing operations in the US were said to have formed CASM and petitioned US agencies to investigate module dumping allegations, though until now only SolarWorld, which has led the campaign, had declared involvement.
“We have supported these trade cases from the beginning, and we are pleased to publicly declare that support,” said Steve Ostrenga, chief executive officer of Helios Solar Works, headquarterd in Milwaukee.“Our country can’t afford to give up manufacturing jobs in growth industries to nations that engage in illegal and harmful trade practices.”
According to a statement from CASM, Helios Solar Works was forced to downsize its manufacturing operations as a result of dumped and subsidized Chinese imports of solar cells and modules.
Posted on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 @ 02:58 PM
New Hampshire, U.S.A. -- Helios Solar Works, a small solar panel manufacturer based in Milwaukee, Wisc., said Thursday that it is one of the seven companies that worked to file the original trade complaint against the price of solar panels coming in from China.
Until this week, SolarWorld was the lone public face for the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM). The Department of Commerce is expected to announce its preliminary countervailing duty determination as early as March 19 just as the solar industry arrives at PV America-West, a three-day conference and exhibition in San Jose, Calif., that runs March 19-21. The result could impose stiff tariffs on panels coming in from China, and such a move would put severe financial pressure on the rest of the American solar industry that has often benefited from the low-cost panels. It would also make American-made modules more cost-competitive.
The remaining five companies in the seven-member coalition remain anonymous, and there is no requirement that their names ever be made public. However Helios Solar Works decided the timing was right, even as the tariff decision looms and as the rhetoric with the competing Coalition for American Solar Energy (CASE) intensifies.
Posted on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 @ 02:49 PM
Helios Solar Works of Milwaukee has been forced to cut jobs as it struggles to compete with imported solar panels from China that are the subject of an international trade dispute.
Helios opened its solar panel factory in the Menomonee River Valley one year ago and expanded to two production shifts by the summer. Its growth path was thwarted because of panels that were being sold in the United States at prices below the cost of production, Helios and a coalition of solar manufacturers contend.
The company is joining a solar industry effort to protest what they see as unfair trade practices, lining up behind SolarWorld, which led a coalition of solar companies that filed a complaint on the matter last year.
In December, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously that "there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value."
Posted on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 @ 02:28 PM
Demand was initially brisk for the high-end monocrystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) panels manufactured by Helios Solar Works at a new, highly automated 50-MW capacity factory on a brownfield industrial site Milwaukee’s city leaders designated for redevelopment and growth. That is until last summer, when founder Steven Ostrenga began noticing “a deep dive in [solar panel] pricing coming out of China that we just couldn’t meet.”
Helios’ silicon solar PV manufacturing business got off to a good start, and the company added a second shift, bringing its workforce to 34 as of last summer. That’s when heavily subsidized imports from China really began surging into the US market, bringing prices below Helios’ cost of production, as well as the cost of production in China, Helios and fellow
Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) members assert in anti-dumping and unfair trade petitions filed with the US Commerce Dept. and International Trade Commission.
Competition is fine and good; it's a prerequisite for a healthy, market-based capitalist system, but China's been flaunting agreed-upon international trade rules established by the World Trade Organization (WTO), harming competitors in the US and other WTO countries, Helios and CASM assert.
Posted on Tue, Mar 06, 2012 @ 03:58 PM
A manufacturer of crystalline solar modules has opened a new manufacturing facility for the assembly of solar panels by plant staff and robots in Milwaukee as a result of Recovery Act funds from the Energy Department’s State Energy Program (SEP).
Helios USA, LLC is Wisconsin’s first manufacturer of high-performance solar modules for deployment in residential, commercial, industrial and utility-based solar electric systems. The company will supply solar panels to a number of customers.
With a $1.4 million loan from SEP, Helios assembles solar panels in the newly opened facility, located in what was previously an abandoned manufacturing plant in the Menomonee Valley area of Milwaukee, with the help of staff and assistance from robots when “superhuman” precision and sensitivity is needed. As of December 2011, the opening of the Helios manufacturing plant has supported 26 jobs and is projected to create a total of 50 permanent jobs in the state.
The complex process for manufacturing solar modules includes six basic workstations and utilizes the assistance of both operators and automated robots for stringing, interconnection, laminating, junction box attachment, frame press and flash test of solar cells. Two material-handling robots are used in the stringing process and an overhead-mounted robot for the ensuing steps. At the end of the entire process, a robot stacks the modules for shipment. This article in Assemblymag.com explains the solar manufacturing process in depth.
With such helpful robots assisting in the plants, it was necessary to develop names for each one. Children of Helios employees volunteered to get involved and name these robotic supporters of energy efficiency. Optimus, Buzz and Nigel work alongside Helios employees daily to facilitate a smooth, easy production process while supporting the implementation of clean energy efforts nationwide.
Read More
Posted on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 @ 09:56 AM
A $525 million federal loan made to failed California solar panel manufacturer Solyndra has cast widespread doubt upon the solar industry, but Milwaukee solar companies are quick to distance themselves from the scandal.
Milwaukee-based Helios USA LLC, located at 1207 W. Canal St. in the Menomonee Valley, was incorporated in February 2009 and began producing solar panels in February 2011. The company purchases solar cells and then manufactures mono-crystalline photovoltaic solar panels.
Posted on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 @ 09:59 AM
Helios USA, located at 1207 Canal Street, produces solar modules (commonly known as solar panels), and they want to change the way we view solar power, one panel at time.
I visited the Helios site to learn more about how solar modules are created, and got a tour of the facilities, learned the names of the various machines (well, their pop-cultural names) and spoke with some of the employees as well as Brent Brucker, General Manager, and Steve Ostrenga, CEO.