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Solar power stocks drop as orders are canceled

11.12.2008
Q-Cells SE, the world's largest manufacturer of solar cells according to the , severely cut back its earning estimate this week, causing a drop in its own stock and that of other solar companies. Late Monday afternoon, the German company's stocks were trading at 28.17; Tuesday morning, they were down to 20.6. (Click here for up-to-date value.)

The drops were the result of what CEO Anton Milner described as a "flood" of canceled and delayed orders.

Not surprisingly, other solar companies with connections to Q-Cell also suffered, such as the and , although Solarfun appeared to be rebounding on Wednesday. But so did other solar companies not directly connected to Q-Cell, such as and .

Ethan Zimbler, Head of North American research for the , sees this as a general trend, and not a worrisome one in the long run . A shortage of polysilicon has the cost of manufacturing solar cells high, but "That bottleneck is about to bust wide open. The prices on solar modules will come down quite a bit. That's a good thing for the world. On the other hand, if you're a shareholder, declining prices and a declining market is what you don't want to see."