Reply #7: Abound Solar Wants Italian Sun

[kristopher]

At the Solarexpo in Verona, Italy, this week, a big question on everyone's mind will no doubt be the fate of the feed-in tariff. The Italian government has wrestled over how to shrink it in order to control the solar market growth and its impact on consumers who help to pay for it.

On Friday, the government is supposed to approve an extension of the current feed-in tariff policy – which was originally to end in June – until this August. So what does it mean for one of the hottest markets in the world? Despite anticipated cuts, the country remains sought-after by manufacturers and developers.

“Even the most pessimistic analyst will say this year Italy will still be 3-5 gigawatts,” said Mark Chen, director of marketing at Abound Solar. “Let’s say 3 gigawatts, and that’s still larger than the U.S. market.”

Abound Solar, a Colorado maker of cadmium-telluride solar panels, announced this week the signing of distribution agreements with Italian firms Thesan and DW Europe. Thesan and DW are both distributors and integrators, and Thesan in particular has designed its own mounting systems for solar panels, Chen said. Thesan is set to showcase a solar electric system design pairing Abound Solar’s panels with its own racking at the Solarexpo...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/05/abound-solar-wants-italian-sun?cmpid=SolarNL-Tuesday-May3-2011