EuroWire May 2015

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Transatlantic cable
May 2015 44
The other states that made it into the Top Ten for 2014 – with
new solar installations ranging from 239.8MW down to 88.2MW
– are New Jersey, New York, Texas, Hawaii and New Mexico.
Technology
Transparent solar panels hold promise for
display screens and windows that
could power mobile phones and buildings
“Solar energy is the future. The problem is, it’s been the future for
a long time. And while progress has been made, using the sun as
a primary source of power hasn’t really broken through.”
Sam Grobart of BloombergBusiness (22nd March) then went on
to report a possible breakthrough in the form of see-through
panels made up of solar cells that absorb only ultraviolet and
infrared radiation – the invisible parts of the solar spectrum.
The totally transparent solar panels, thin as a laminate, are
the brainchild of Miles Barr who, as a PhD student in chemical
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
developed invisible solar cells that could generate electricity.
He was able to engineer the cells so that visible light could pass
through while transmitting the solar energy.
Mr Grobart noted that the technology still has a way to
go because the cells must become more e cient to prove
cost-e ective. But the prospect is intriguing: solar cells that
could become a part of any glass or plastic surface.
They could invisibly cover the display of a smartphone, enabling
the phone to charge itself under natural or arti cial light.
If the process were incorporated into window manufacturing,
homes and skyscrapers could draw power from the sun without
the spatial and aesthetic limits of the opaque solar panels
in current use. (“See-Through Solar Is Tomorrow’s Threat to Oil,”
23 rd March)
The inventive Dr Barr, now the CEO of Ubiquitous Energy,
a Silicon Valley company he founded, hopes eventually to bring
the see-through panels to market. Mr Grobart, for one, will be
watching and waiting.
“If solar is the future,” he wrote in BloombergBusiness,
“transparent solar may be the future that actually works.”
Automotive
Disillusioned with the Russian car market,
General Motors is pulling out its
Chevrolet and Opel brands
General Motors will stop production at its factory in
St Petersburg, Russia, by midyear and will have halted
production of Chevrolet cars through its joint venture with GAZ
by the end of 2015. Also as reported by Greg Gardner and Alisa
Priddle of the Detroit Free Press, GM will reel in its German-based
Opel brand, which by the end of 2015 will no longer be sold
in Russia.
The moves drastically reduce GM’s presence in Russia and
will result in about $600 million in special charges against
rst-quarter earnings, the company said on 18th March. (“GM to
Shut Russian factory, Opel Will Stop Selling There,” 19th March)
The Free Press reporters wrote that the moves show GM
“has run out of patience” with a car market that not long
ago was expected to be one of the fastest-growing in the
world. They recalled the groundbreaking for an expansion of
the St Petersburg plant, in 2012, at which the then-head of
GM international operations bracketed Russia with China in
terms of growth prospects.
“We had to take to take decisive action to protect our business,”
said Karl-Thomas Neumann, Opel Group CEO, referencing
Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and the
ongoing military con ict with Ukraine.
The company assured owners of Chevrolet and Opel vehicles
that it that it would continue to provide parts and services,
and GM’s joint venture with Autovaz will go on building the
Chevrolet Niva.
Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan Ross
School of Business, told Mr Gardner and Ms Priddle that he gives
GM CEO Mary Barra credit for her willingness to acknowledge
that Russia has not worked out for her company. He said: “In the
past GM used to dither for years before making a decision like
this.”
† Ford Motor Co, another of the Detroit Big Three, will stay the
course in Russia although it has stopped making the current
Ford Edge mid-size utility vehicle there and has not said
when it will start producing the new model. Ford of Europe
president Jim Farley told media at the Geneva auto show
in March that, while Russia is volatile now, it has a strong
middle class and Ford is committed to the region for the
long term.
In 2012 Ford forecast auto sales in Russia of more than
four million a year industry-wide. Sales were only around
2.5 million in 2014 and Mr Farley said he expected similar
results this year.
A star at home in the USA, the Tesla
Model S electric sedan encounters
a speed bump in China
“In 2014 Tesla Motors Inc sent 4,800 Model S sedans to China.
Of those, 2,499 were sold and 2,301 were not.”
Paul Ausick, of the nancial newsletter 24/7 Wall St, was
supplying background to reports from China, dated
16th March, concerning Tesla. These indicated that the Palo Alto,
California-based maker of electric cars and electric vehicle
powertrain components had red 30 per cent of its Chinese sta .
The layo s reportedly began before the Chinese New Year
holidays in January and February and reduced the sales sta
by half. The Chinese website CarNewsChina.com, cited by
Mr Ausick, also said that layo s had occurred in administration,
tech support and procurement as well as in the marketing,
public relations and legal departments. Before the rings, Tesla is
believed to have had 600 employees in China.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged weak sales in China
in a letter to shareholders when the company reported
fourth-quarter 2014 results. In January of this year, Tesla China
sold just 120 cars, according to CarNewsChina.com. (“Tesla Fires
China Sta as Sales Falter,” 17th March)