Sharp Sees Start Of Solar Recovery in 2010
The solar power industry will start to recover in 2010, an executive with Sharp Corp told Reuters on Tuesday, saying U.S. stimulus funds, work on government projects and new financing would help the industry.
"I call it a warming up," Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group, said in an interview at the Solar Power International conference being held in Anaheim, California, this week.
Kenedi said stimulus funds as well as work on government projects are bright spots in the industry's recovery as well as new ways of financing projects.
"New financing is coming in," Kenedi said. "A vacuum gets filled."
Kenedi said that Sharp, which has headquarters in Japan, is moving back to the 30 to 40 percent growth rate that the solar industry had enjoyed until financing for new projects dried up during the financial crisis in 2008 and a global glut of panels sent prices falling.
