The price of a solar panel has dropped 60% in less than three years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. International Trade Commission ruled in favor of the competition and set duties on imported Chinese panels, but Helios executives said the commission and Department of Commerce ruling included a loophole that made it easy for Chinese companies to bypass the tariffs.īut as the solar market grew, large manufacturers with factories in low-cost countries in China and other Asian countries began supplying panels to the U.S., which drove the cost of panels down further. Helios had been part of a coalition of domestic solar panel manufacturers that filed unfair-trade practices complaints against Chinese companies for dumping, or selling products below what they cost to produce. The company saw a niche in producing a more efficient panel - packing more cells per square foot into a panel - as well as a highly automated, robotics-intensive manufacturing process. Helios was part of a consortium of companies led by the Spanish equipment supplier SAP that opened factories around the world to take advantage of a growing market for solar panels. "That did not materialize and the next thing we heard was that they had decided to move the business to North Carolina." "They had told us that they had significant plans not only to salvage the current Helios operation, but they had big plans to expand it," Paetsch said. Representatives of Chinaland and First Sunergy couldn't be reached for comment.ĭiscussions took place in Milwaukee last fall between the buyers and local economic development officials, and at the time there was optimism that the plant would reopen. "The new Helios Solar Works will have an annual capacity of making 100MW solar modules in USA," First Sunergy said on its website. In Internet and Facebook postings, Chinaland Solar and its Texas-based partner, First Sunergy, said the Milwaukee operation was bought to help the buyer satisfy Chinaland's customers' demands for panels. At the time, the Chinese firm indicated that it wanted to reopen the Milwaukee plant.īut the company's representatives recently informed the Milwaukee 7 economic development group that they will instead open a factory in North Carolina, said Jim Paetsch, Milwaukee 7's vice president of corporate relocation and expansion.Īfter Helios went into receivership, the court-appointed receiver, Michael Polsky, announced that the company had "temporarily suspended operations." Polsky couldn't be reached for comment Thursday. Helios Solar Works filed for receivership, a process similar to bankruptcy, late last year.Ī Chinese company, Chinaland Solar Energy, bought the company's assets during the receivership proceeding. A Menomonee Valley solar panel factory won't reopen, after its new Chinese owner decided to open a plant instead in North Carolina, a local economic development official said.
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