Suntech Power Holdings, which was until recently the world’s largest producer of solar panels, has said its main subsidiary in China is bankrupt, in a further stark illustration of the declining fortunes of the global solar industry.
Suntech’s Wuxi subsidiary is the first big Chinese solar group to declare insolvency and the world’s biggest such bankruptcy, following a string of failed western solar companies including Q-Cells in Germany and Solyndra in the US.
“What the Suntech case shows us is that the Chinese companies are not too big to fail,” said Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “We are entering a period of great difficulty for Chinese solar manufacturers.”