heliox wrote:Thanks for your inputs - but the size of Australia cannot be an issue. I am coming from Switzerland (2.5 times smaller than Australia and 1/2 the average sunshine) and we have dozens of companies there producing either solar cells, panels or equipment related to solar power with big success.
Are the solar panels that are produced in Switzerland sold there, or exported? If they are sold there, how are they priced compared to imported modules? I have not studied Switzerland in any detail (though I used to work in Basel from time to time), so I have no idea about your import duties etc., but that would be a good place to start checking. For example, a quick search shows a Sunpower 225W panel in Australia retails for about 1750CHF (AU$1850), where that panel in Switzerland (from "go Solar") is listed at 2250CHF. That's a 28% price increase over the Australian price. Some of that could be transport costs, but where does the rest come from?
The basic issue is that a panel made in Australia would be very expensive if exported to another country, and whether sold locally or exported it would have to compete with Asian panels made with far lower labour costs. Australia has very little price protection for it's own producers, unlike the USA and Europe, and there are few import restrictions or subsidies to local industry. This makes it hard for local producers to compete with imports.