GE Narrows Scope of Solar Power Investment

Solar power prices collapsed last year. They dropped nearly 50 percent in 2009, and analysts predict prices could drop another 20 percent in 2010, helping the industry become cost-competitive with other energy resources but squeezing some companies out of business. The economic downturn and falling power demand in the United States and Europe have contributed to the price collapse, but the major cost driver has been the fluctuating supply of polysilicon, the primary raw material used to develop solar energy units. Polysilicon has gone from a major shortage to massive oversupply, and bank analysts have projected an oversupply of polysilicon until 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/08/08climatewire-ge-narrows-scope-of-solar-power-investment-77307.html