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<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans">Joel,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"> For me, I'd
say rather than necessarily power, it would be power density....though it's
certainly more convenient to install 10, 205's, vs 17, 120's. Yes, we're
all somewhat chained to price, cuz if we're not, the guy down the road will
likely get the job. On the other hand, one of the features I am always
touting about my systems is USA made PVs (this is getting harder to do with the
China-Mart element in town). Where I am, US-made panels still are a
significant element in securing a project. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"> And, not
very far down the list of "important" is if I have a problem with a PV and make
a phone call for help, is it there? SERVICE. I feel more confident about
buying US made PVs for that reason alone. How many emails, postcards,
flashy brosures have we all rec'd from the latest foriegn start-up...it scares
me to think of buying from them. In 10,20,30 years, I want service from my
choice of PV company because I want solar to survive. Another one of the
reasons I can charge my customers a bit more for US made panels is because I am
not shy about service, communication, any kind of help before, during, after the
project...I feed their dog on the way to my truck if they ask. They
remember me when I'm gone and word-of-mouth preceeds me.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"> Speech over
(for now), for my favorite it's Evergreen 205's (fa3), currently. They are
usually reasonably available.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans">Bill</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans">Feather River Solar Electric<BR>4291 Nelson
St.<BR>Taylorsville, CA 95983<BR>530-284-7849/6544 fax</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joel.davidson@sbcglobal.net
href="mailto:joel.davidson@sbcglobal.net">Joel Davidson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, May 19, 2010 8:08
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [RE-wrenches] PV Module Favorite
(was Whats with Kyocera)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wrenches,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'd like to turn this discussion 180 degrees. I'm
not manufacturing PV modules (at the moment), but I'd like to know
what is your favorite PV module brand and model? What features and
benefits are important? What do you like about the manufacturer
itself (not its warehouse distributors)? Are price, power, and
availability over 90 percent of the equation? What else really matters? Thanks
in advance for your comments.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joel Davidson</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=solar1online@charter.net
href="mailto:solar1online@charter.net">Bill Loesch</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, May 19, 2010 4:10
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RE-wrenches] Whats with
Kyocera</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ray,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In addition to _your_ Rouges Big Three
of </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kyrocera</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BP</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Photowatt </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>let me add _my_ recently discovered
Rouges Big Three of </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Q-Cells<BR>Sharp<BR>Abound Solar</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>which are being sold direct from the
manufacturer to the end user.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Seems like many manufacturers have lapses of
conscience, some continuously others intermittently.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill Loesch<BR>Solar 1 - Saint Louis
Solar<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would hope that other _distributors_ like AEE
and manufacturers, like Evergreen, continue to pass on their leads
as long as the established distribution channels remain in
place.</DIV></FONT>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ray@solarray.com href="mailto:ray@solarray.com">R Ray Walters</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:47
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RE-wrenches] Whats with
Kyocera</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Interesting, because we quit working with all three
Manufacturers mentioned for the following reasons:
<DIV>Kyocera had that 1999 bad batch that is still giving them a bad name
in the back woods here. So glad I never sold those.</DIV>
<DIV>BP bought Solarex, and starting making crappy polycrystalline stuff,
(and had their own bad batches) we got tired of making excuses for under
performance.</DIV>
<DIV>FInally, Photowatt in Albuquerque was selling to end users very small
quantities at our wholesale price. We didn't need the competition from a
supplier. Again they had some bad batches too.</DIV>
<DIV>These three companies have a long track record of bad service, bad
products, and poor performance.</DIV>
<DIV>With so many top quality modules available: Sunpower, SolarWorld,
Sanyo..... Why would any of you mess around selling </DIV>
<DIV>for a company that doesn't take care of you?</DIV>
<DIV>Just my opinion: you're only going to install so many systems this
lifetime, so don't put your name and reputation out on 2nd rate
stuff.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; WIDOWS: 2; BORDER-SPACING: 0px 0px; ORPHANS: 2; khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; apple-text-size-adjust: auto">
<DIV>R. Walters</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:ray@solarray.com">ray@solarray.com</A></DIV>
<DIV>Solar Engineer</DIV>
<DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV>
<DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV><BR
class=Apple-interchange-newline></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV>
<DIV>On May 18, 2010, at 2:56 PM, Joel Davidson wrote:</DIV><BR
class=Apple-interchange-newline>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: medium Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; WIDOWS: 2; ORPHANS: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">
<DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif">
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">In 2002, Kyocera cut off American distributors
shortly after hosting their distributor visit to
Japan. Kyocera started shipping everything they could to
Germany where they were getting over $1/W more than in the US. BP Solar
also cut off American distributors. Remember BP distributor Mark
Weidhaas in Temecula? Photowatt also cut off American distributors.
Remember Bernard Stuart in Albuquerque? I'm sure wrenches can think of
other foreign manufacturers that left us high and dry.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">PV manufacturing is nowhere near maxed out. PV
industry manufacturing capacity utilization is now around 60%.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">See slide 2 <A
href="http://www.luthcommunications.com/uploads/Paula_Mints_presentation.pdf">http://www.luthcommunications.com/uploads/Paula_Mints_presentation.pdf</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif"><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif"><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>
<HR SIZE=1>
<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Keith Cronin <<A
href="mailto:electrichi01@yahoo.com">electrichi01@yahoo.com</A>><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>RE-wrenches <<A
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</A>><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Tue, May 18, 2010 10:59:04
AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Re: [RE-wrenches] Whats with
Kyocera<BR></FONT><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">I've heard alot of manu's are struggling or
will be struggling to meet demand this year- SunPower, Canadian and now
it seems Kyocera.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Who is next?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Seems like 2006 all over again.</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>
<HR SIZE=1>
<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Steven Lawrence <<A
href="mailto:SLawrence@smartenergygroup.net">SLawrence@smartenergygroup.net</A>><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>"<A
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</A>"
<<A
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</A>><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Tue, May 18, 2010 7:51:51
AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>[RE-wrenches] Whats with
Kyocera<BR></FONT><BR>It's the same thing here. They aren't taking
any large orders from us. <SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>Steven
Lawrence<BR>NABCEP Certified Solar PV
Installer(tm)<BR><BR><BR>------------------------------<BR><BR>Date:
Mon, 17 May 2010 18:22:27 -0700<BR>From: i2p <<A
href="mailto:i2p@aol.com" target=_blank rel=nofollow
ymailto="mailto:i2p@aol.com">i2p@aol.com</A>><BR>To: "List for
complaining about anything RE."<BR> <<A
href="mailto:re-bitching@lists.re-wrenches.org" target=_blank
rel=nofollow
ymailto="mailto:re-bitching@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-bitching@lists.re-wrenches.org</A>><BR>Cc:<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" target=_blank
rel=nofollow
ymailto="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</A><BR>Subject:
[RE-wrenches] Whats with Kyocera?<BR>Message-ID: <<A
href="mailto:A1E17F2D.C667.4A0B.80D8.4725C33305E2@aol.com" target=_blank
rel=nofollow
ymailto="mailto:A1E17F2D.C667.4A0B.80D8.4725C33305E2@aol.com">A1E17F2D.C667.4A0B.80D8.4725C33305E2@aol.com</A>><BR>Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<BR><BR><BR>Without any word, they have
stopped taking orders.! Not only could they not fulfill an immediate
need, they refused to even take a pretty nice order for future
delivery.????<BR><BR><BR>Who is still getting Kyocera? Whats the deal.?
Are they dumping the small accounts??<BR><BR>If you are still doing
business with Kyocera, what size orders are you placing.? Not looking
for biz intelligence here, just respond as small , medium or
large.<BR><BR>Thanks for comments and information. Just trying to figure
out where to go from here. Like I'm looking for a supplier who treats
smaller shops with some respect. My comments do not reflect on my
salesperson at Kyocera who is very upset by being forced to refuse
orders.<BR><BR>Don Loweburg<BR>Offline
Solar<BR><BR>*******************************************<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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