There is some hope that SpectraWatt Inc. will not entirely close down, according to a key economic development official from Dutchess County, but meanwhile the solar cell manufacturing company that started up in spring 2010 is still officially planning to close in March without fully explaining why.
“I don”™t think we are going to see 117 jobs (at SpectraWatt) in Fishkill completely going away,” said John MacEnroe, president of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp., who spent several hours at the SpectraWatt facility Dec. 28. “This is cutting edge equipment they installed, I can”™t imagine investors are going to want to scrap it and take 10 cents on the dollar or whatever they can get decommissioning the factory.”
He said company leaders were following the requirements of state law when they filed a WARN notice, alerting state officials of pending job losses and a plant closure after three months. The facility is slated to begin laying off its work force of 117 employees on March 21 and be fully closed in early April.
SpectraWatt is still filling back orders, MacEnroe said. “They appear to be a company trying to work through what right now is a blip on the radar screen,” he said.
The company opened its production lines in last spring manufacturing solar cells, which are key components of complete solar panels installed on rooftops and towers to provide power. Initially the company was so successful it quickly moved to a 24/7 production schedule and touted its success in providing solar cells to meet the demands of the European market.
In November, it was awarded the Business Excellence award by Dutchess County for2010.
It was a shock when the company announced its pending closure in a two-sentence press release Dec. 21, that explained the news as due to “Deteriorating market conditions resulting from a harsher-than-usual European winter causing a large drop-off in demand for solar cells.” The release said the company hopes to “reverse this action.”
Company officials have not returned calls and e-mails seeking comment.
Was SpectraWatt actually always weaker than it appeared and had its success overblown by company officials? MacEnroe called it a good question. “You can”™t install solar panels on roofs that are snow covered,” MacEnroe said. “But I don”™t think it”™s a surprise to anyone that it snows in Germany in the winter.”
The company has still not received the full amount of public funding it was awarded by the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, which had provided about $800,000 of the promised $1.7 million as of Sept. 30. The money was based on the company achieving specific contracted milestones. SpectraWatt is eligible for some $6.5 million in Empire State Development Corp. grants, but that money has not been disbursed yet. It would still be available if the company can recover its footing.
MacEnroe said he believes that can happen, but said that the episode serves as a cautionary tale to the entire solar industry cluster that officials have been facilitating in the Hudson Valley and the state.
“We are now beginning to see the new normal, where the subsidies are being reduced and the solar industry is going to have to stand on their own,” said MacEnroe. “The margins are going to be a little tighter. I think the industry is going to have to buckle down and do better to be a viable industry.”
He said he believes that can happen, but added that the “Wild West” days are likely over. “The cycle, while it might not rise as high, is certainly going to go back up,” said MacEnroe.
This is what happens to industries that are dependent upon government largesse. When the government money dries up, this occurs. Companies like this and others must be viable under free market circumstances.
Yes, let us remove all the subsidies for fossil and nuclear fuels too and then see which ones are “viable under free market circumstances”!