Comments on: Evergreen To China Shows It’s Not So Easy To Be Green In Mass.

By: finfan

finfan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:39:06 +0000

HA some people that have no clue should not speak. It costs almost nothing to ship from China to Mass. I am the purchasing manager for a manufacturing company here in mass (until we are focred to cease all operations here when obamacare or cap n trade pass). My boat cost (with US duty, long shore raping and such) comes out to less then 1$ a lbs. Comppared to all the social programs my company gets raped for to do bussiness here that’s NOTHING

By: Mark Henderson

Mark Henderson — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:11:33 +0000

It comes down to just SolarWorld panels that are fully Made in USA. Sharp is just the opposite of Evergreen – the cells are made elswhere, and the panel assembly is done in USA.
We installed 13.1 KW of PV in the last two years. We started installing Evergreens. However, when they announced they were switching to China, we switched to SolarWorld panels (our inverter, PVPowered, always has been and is still Made in USA).
When it comes down to it – its up to Americans whether to support our fellow Americans, or save 10 cents and buy from China.

By: Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:00:47 +0000

Re Mary Hunt:
Shipping food (or at least food without sodium Benzoate)
is expensive because it has to be kept cold and moved fast or it will rot. But moving things by ship is not nearly as energy intensive as by truck and containers of solar cells can sit by the side of a harbor in Fujian province for a while without a problem.
Once we figure out what the price of carbon should be, then the only real reason to buy local is because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside to chat with Tom and hear him gripe about one of his goats.

By: Ron Polubinski

Ron Polubinski — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:16:48 +0000

So why is this so difficult to understand? The cost of labor in China is much less than it is here in Massachusetts. With lower build costs Evergreen’s product, like every other US manufacturer’s product, stays competitive on the store shelves. No amount of flag-waving is going to change that basic economic fact.

By: mary Hunt

mary Hunt — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:13:46 +0000

Have the incredible transportation costs been factored in when deciding to manufacture in China? The amount of energy needed to transport the products to China, then to manufacture the panels, and ship back here are tremendous! Where is our sense of buying and producing locally? It’s like buying shrimp from Thailand. Should you buy your food from a place that is so far away you would never take a vacation there? I can’t believe this option can really be profitable!

By: dan dunn

dan dunn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:53:29 +0000

I am an investor in Evergreen Solar. I truly believe in the need for alternative energy sources going forward. Our need for energy, with approxiamately one hundred million new people added to the planet earth annually, is insatiable. It is unfortunate that the american government is so shackled by special interest that it could not supply needed capital to a future growth industry such as Evergreen Solar represents. That fact along with high labor cost and the difficulty even acquiring private investment capital since the economic 9/11 occured, has made Evergreen’s move to china an economic necessity for it’s survival. I hope that they will be sucessful with this move and can maintain the jobs they have created in the united states. Governor Patrick has the correct vision of the future of energy, unfortunately energy independence, job creation, and environmental benefits are not a prime mover for to many in this nation. If we cannot continue to take the lead in new ideas for the future we, as a nation, will become a backwater location.