Falling prices in the global photovoltaic (PV) solar energy market have forced another manufacturing firm out of business.
Stirling Energy Systems (SES) has filed in the USA for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It follows in the footsteps of PV manufacturing firms Solyndra, Evergreen Solar and Spectrawatt, all of which have gone out of business in the last few weeks.
SES was developing a unique solar generator that combined solar thermal concentrator technology with Stirling engines to produce electricity. The so-called SunCatcher systems were first put on-line in 2010 in a 1.5 MW demonstration project in Arizona.
The company has been driven out of business because of falling prices in the solar PV sector caused by an overcapacity in the global PV panel manufacturing sector. Solar project developers are now favouring PV technology over solar thermal systems like SunCatcher.
Falling PV prices are also driving consolidation in the PV sector.
SES’s SunCatcher systems consist of 11 m-high reflective dishes that concentrate heat onto a hydrogen-filled Stirling engine. They are designed to be scalable and had been selected by two solar developers for use in projects in the US southwest.
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