About two weeks ago, German conglomerate Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) announced that it planned to get out of the solar panel-making business. The move is expected to cost Siemens more than $320 million, according to a report in a German financial newspaper cited by Reuters.

The losses are down to the value of the units, operational losses and write-downs on projects that are currently in progress. The German newspaper reckons that the total loss on Siemens’ solar business will top $1 billion.

Siemens joins a handful of other German solar PV makers that have filed for bankruptcy or been sold in the past year. Cuts to subsidies in the eurozone have been the main force behind the failures, but low prices from Chinese solar makers have hurt also. Eurozone and U.S. solar manufacturers have initiated trade cases against the Chinese makers, and the United States is already imposing tariffs on panels manufactured in China.

Siemens’ shares are inactive in premarket trading today, having closed at $101.85 on Friday in a 52-week range of $77.88 to $105.40.

Paul Ausick

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