Boom time ahead for solar panel makers

New York

SOLAR panel makers globally are preparing for their best year since 2011, when US-backed Solyndra LLC went bust, as China and Japan take advantage of falling prices to shift more of their energy production to clean power.

Panel production is forecast to grow by almost a third this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's a significant reversal for an industry that's been crippled by its own excess as companies in China including JA Solar Holdings Co and LDK Solar Co raised almost US$3 billion in 2007 and 2008 to expand production.

By 2010, the market was so oversupplied that the cost of solar cells began tumbling. With the cost of panels down by 66 per cent s…