China’s manufacturers are pumping out so many solar panels that the resulting global glut has caused prices to tank.
Solar panels — 80% of which are made in China — are so cheap that they are now being used to line garden fences in Germany and the Netherlands, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Solar panels are typically installed on rooftops, where they can capture the most sunlight — but there’s so much excess supply that people in these two countries are now putting them on fences. This also saves on pricey labor and scaffolding costs required for roof installations, per the FT.
Fences covered in solar panels are also starting to take off in the UK, North America, and Australia.
“Why put up a fence when you can just put up a load of solar panels, even if they’re not aligned exactly to the sun?” Martin Brough, the head of climate research at BNP Paribas Exane, told the FT.
Solar panel supply globally is forecast to reach 1,100 gigawatts by the end of this year — three times more than demand, the International Energy Agency wrote in a report released in January.
Read more here from Business Insider.
