Solar energy: fail or future? - China Weekly Hangout

Solar panels to heat hot water at the Tea-Horse Trade Guest House along the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail in Yunnan, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The unceremonial collapse of Suntech, the Chinese solar energy firm who was previously the darling of the investors, shows that rosy investments can fail. But what went wrong in this case, and how can China profit from the upcoming innovations in solar energy?
China's solar energy has been mostly focusing on the export, not on domestic use. And as investments in solar energy in Europe and the US dropped dramatically, so did the basis of companies like Suntech. But the ambitions are still in place. Can solar energy safely replace more environmental dangers sources like oil, coal, nuclear power and even fracking?

On Thursday 11 April, 4pm CEST, 10pm Beijing Time, 10am EST, the +China Weekly Hangout will discuss the future of solar energy in China. What is its perspective after the failure of Suntech, and what does it need to get solar energy going? You can register for the discussion here , leave your questions and comments at the event page. During the hangout (which can be watched in this space), you can also join the discussing using twitter and Google+ if you add the hash tag #CWHCWH to your messages.
+Chris Brown has already promised to chip in, but we will certainly have more knowledgeable panelists.

The energy security has been on the agenda of the +China Weekly Hangout before. In September 2012 we discussed energy security with +Merritt Cooke and +Richard Brubaker , moderated by +Fons Tuinstra .


In November 2012 +Richard Brubaker and +Fons Tuinstra discussed the recent developments of nuclear power, as China resumed the building of new plants after a moratorium after the Fukushima disaster.

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