EU to exclude Chinese Solar?

European industry group EU ProSun requested the benchmark review. The group said the number of Chinese companies reporting data to be included in the benchmark has “increased significantly” since early 2014 and the prices provided by these businesses “have historically been lower than prices reported by other companies,” according to the commission.

“The sufficient evidence submitted by the applicant suggests that the existing benchmark is no longer representative of the development of the prices for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules,” said the commission, which has as long as 15 months to complete its review.

In other words, the benchmark solar panel prices are too low because of Chinese producers’ large weighting.

Chinese solar stocks fell on Tuesday. JinkoSolar (JKS) dropped 2.9%, Yingli Green Energy (YGE) fell 2.7%, Trina Solar (TSL) was down 1.7%, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) retreated 1.6%.

But keep in mind the European Union is not Chinese solar companies’ largest market. China and the US are the two growth drivers.

Solar names have done very well this year, with the Guggenheim ETF up 36.9% so far. First, the price of oil has recovered. Second, China is seen to be pushing aggressively into solar energy.