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But you’re not comparing the same products, for example how much more should one pay to have a product not produced with slave labour?
by balderdash 3y ago
But you’re not comparing the same products, for example how much more should one pay to have a product not produced with slave labour?
- fy20 3y agoI am in Lithuania (EU) and when I had solar panels installed on my house, I got them installed and manufactured by a local company - whose factory is less than 10 miles from my house. I got quotes from a few companies, and this was was more expensive, but it was only around €1000 (10%) more than the cheapest company which offered Chinese panels. I figured if I need to make a warranty claim in 20 years time, this company is likely to still be around, plus I'm supporting the local economy. Its not just assembly of panels, the solar cells are also made in Lithuania (this company started out creating optical parts). Last year they branched out and launched their own line of residential batteries (not sure if the cells are made in-house) and they announced plans to build a new PV factory in Italy. Admitidely our labour is a bit cheaper than Germany, but it's not much, and the cost of doing business here in general is higher. If it can be done here, I don't see why it can't be done in Germany. https://www.solitek.eu/en https://www.solitek.eu/en
- balderdash 3y agoGlad to hear it. On a home installation the solar module cost is a smaller percentage of the total bill right? So wasn’t the premium paid for the modules more percentage wise than 10% of the total bill? Separately people pay ~3-5x more for modules in the retail market than at utility scale so paying say 55c/w vs say 50c/w retail isn’t a huge deal, but for utility scale projects where Chinese modules are 20-30c/w paying 50c/w is totally untenable.