REC to Recall All of Its Solar Panels From 2008: Report

Renewable Energy Corp will repair or change all of the solar panels it sold in 2008 and a quarter of those it sold in 2007 because of a manufacturing defect, according to Dagens Naeringsliv.

The total comes to around 420,000 solar panels. So far 100,000 panels have been returned. The whole exercise will cost around $56 million.

A recall like that, of course, just makes a bad situation worse for REC. Sales plummeted late last year with the economic downturn. Sales in Spain were particularly hard hit. The country actually surpassed Germany to become the largest solar market in the world due to a high feed-in tariff. But it also caused a land rush that lead to an oversupply of panels. Although some parts of the world economy have shown signs of stabilization, solar prices continue to decline.