[RE-wrenches] Evergreen to China, What is American made?

[Joel Davidson]

I think this thread has rolled over to RE-Markets so I am posting it on both, but my last time on RE-Wrenches.

PV is an international industry with parts coming from all over the world. Some companies are good corporate citizens, make good quality equipment, and pay their workers living wages. It saddens me when PV people rationalize paying Chinese PV factory workers US$100/month. It also saddens me when U.S. PV factory workers do not earn enough to own a home let alone put PV on their home.

Wrenches do a good job learning about the products they buy and resell. I encourage you to learn more about the companies from whom you buy. When you Google solar factory conditions, you don't get the same bad news that you get when you google Nike factory conditions. Let's keep it that way.

Joel Davidson

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Nick Soleil 
  To: RE-wrenches 
  Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 12:58 AM
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Evergreen to China, What is American made?


      This thread is hilarious and tragic.  What started a couple days ago as an attempt to desperately find a source for US made modules lead the group to discuss the always American made Evergreen, but mid-thread (yesterday) Evergreen announces that they are moving their assembly to China.  So what now Bob-O, Mexico may be better than China, but is China better than China?
      So what now?  I use BP mostly, which always provided American made options, and we would sell those to the Buy-American crowd.  However, beginning a couple months back, those American lines began getting  'Made in China' stickers too, (with no notice to us.)  One of my customer's was pissed when he saw that sticker after paying extra for American made.
      There is Unisolar in the US.  Does First Solar manufacture in the US?

       Honestly, I am glad that panel prices have come down so far, sorry if that is making life hard for Evergreen and other manufacturers, but solar should be more affordable.  If all the manufactureres move to China, then atleast my competitors can't use American Made as a selling point against me.  Now instead, they can remind customers that the BP in BP Solar stands for British Petroleum.  "Yes, it is the same company as the oil company."

  Nick Soleil
  Project Manager
  Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC
  PO Box 657
  Petaluma, CA 94953
  Cell: 707-321-2937
  Office: 707-789-9537
  Fax: 707-769-9037





------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: Mark Frye <markf at berkeleysolar.com>
  To: jryago at netscape.com; RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
  Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 7:02:04 AM
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Evergreen - now what?


  Very interesting questions Jeff.  What exactly do we mean when we say "USA products".

  I use Sharp exclusively.  I believe the silicon ingots are grown in Russia.  They are sliced and doped in China. But they are assembled into modules in Tennesse.

  Does this make it a product of the USA? If not, should I stop using Sharp. But what about all those jobs in Tennesse?

  Mark Frye 
  Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 
  303 Redbud Way 
  Nevada City,  CA 95959 
  (530) 401-8024 
  www.berkeleysolar.com  




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Yago
  Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 7:00 AM
  To: RE-wrenches
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Evergreen - now what?



  We are currently waiting on a stack of Evergreen modules (which are now very late to ship!) and we were getting ready to order another batch, so does this mean we should be looking into another supplier?  

  We try very hard to buy USA products, but that is getting harder and harder to do.  It looks like its now just SolarWorld in California. What other module manufacturers are still actually making their modules in US and not importing from China.

  Jeff Yago
  DTI SolarNet




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