EC removes Seraphim Solar from MIP

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Source: Flickr/Luke Price.

Seraphim Solar has been removed from the MIP by the European Commission after it was found to have been breaching the price undertaking’s rules.

According to the EC, Seraphim was selling modules to an unrelated party in the EU then reselling them below the level of the MIP. The EC’s investigations have led it to believe that the company in question was in fact related to Seraphim in China.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Punitive duties must now be paid on a ream of invoices dating as far back as April 2014.

PV Tech understands that two companies in the EU have already been given seven figure customs bills related to module sales that were later found to have been made outwith the rules of the MIP. It is not known which manufacturers’ modules related to those cases.

The EC said the responsibility for the breaches lay solely with Seraphim and would have no impact on the future of the undertaking as a whole.

The responsibility for paying back-dated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties lies with the EU importer. In this instance, that would be the company found to be related to Seraphim China.

MIP increasingly irrelevant

A growing number of manufacturers have voluntarily left the MIP choosing instead to serve EU customers from manufacturing facilities outside China. Seraphim has a factory in Mississippi.

A quirk of the way the MIP is calculated from US dollars to Euros has artificially held the price level higher than global cell and module averages, further distorting the market.

China’s largest solar producers have now all left the MIP, largely by choice.

Seraphim had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

8 October 2024
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 8-9 October 2024 is our second PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The event in 2023 was a sell out success and 2024 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
26 November 2024
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2025. PV ModuleTech Europe 2024 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.

Read Next

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
April 10, 2024
Dallas, Texas USA
Solar Media Events
April 17, 2024
Lisbon, Portugal
Solar Media Events
May 1, 2024
Dallas, Texas
Solar Media Events
May 21, 2024
Napa, USA