First Solar Would Feel German Cuts: Poll

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In this week's solar sector poll, we asked readers to turn their gaze to Germany. Given the re-election of Chancellor Angela Merkel last week and the ushering of Germany's center-right coalition government, many wonder just what changes are in store for the country.

For solar watchers, that means analyzing the country's feed-in tariff, which has been a lifeline in boosting the solar industry there and around the world.

Most anticipate the subsidy will be cut. It only remains to be seen by just how much. Considering that, we turned to TheStreet.com users to ask which non-German solar player of five preselected majors they thought would be most hurt by changes in the subsidy.

The question posed was: "With speculation mounting about a future cut in the German solar feed-in tariff, which of the following non-German solar companies do you think would be hurt the most?"

By Friday evening, nearly 400 votes had been tallied and one solar operation very clearly topped the list. LDK(NWSA Quote), Solarfun(SOLF Quote), Suntech Power(STP Quote) and Yingli Green Energy(YGE Quote) all tallied similar vote totals, garnering 12%, 14%, 15% and 16% respectively.

But the winner, by a long shot, was First Solar(FSLR Quote), with 43% vote -- or more accurately, in this case, the loser. The poll does, after all, reflect the sentiment of TheStreet users that the company would be the one to be most hurt by an FiT change in Deutschland.

That outcome may not represent such a stretch by the readers, at least according to recent announcements. For several months, First Solar's thin-film technology has garnered it a pricing advantage in the global market for modules. Most other solar module makers rely on more expensive polysilicon, while First Solar uses cadmium telluride. But falling polysilicon prices have cut into First Solar's advantage, making others that much more competitive.