Clouds build over German solar industry

Across Europe's biggest solar markets, governments have been reducing obligatory feed-in tariffs paid to producers by utilities in recent months. This is partly because they need to cut public spending at a time of economic hardship, but also because the solar sector in several EU markets has become overheated, just at a time of dampened power demand. Solar firms are hopeful that the US, China, Japan and other growing markets can provide alternatives (PE 1/10 p24), but losses in Germany will still be a severe setback. Tariff-cut proposals announced by Germany's new centre-right government in January go much further than previously planned – and than the industry had been expecting. A 10% cu