An OPEC for solar power isn't going to serve the world well

A Chinese cartel in this field won't aid the cause of clean energy

- DAVID FICKLING

What do you do in an energy industry that's facing its first speed bumps after decades of meteoric growth? In the case of oil, the answer in 1960 was the formation of a producer's cartel: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Solar power, which is going through its own growing pains this year, is looking to imitate the strategy.

More than 30 Chinese solar power producers signed up to an OPEC-style agreement at their industry association's annual meeting last week, with manufacturers given quotas based on their existing capacity and forecasts of market demand. That would provide some relief from a glut over the past year that drove prices for panels and their raw materials well below costs. The crisis has pushed the big four Chinese panel-makers into losses of an expected $1.06 billion this year.