In May 2017, wholly owned subsidiary SolarWorld Americas, based in Oregon, US, joined fellow American solar panel manufacturer Suniva in its Section 201 trade action to request relief from what it claimed are unfair practices from solar panel importers to the United States.

While subsidiary SolarWorld America was not itself insolvent, it subsequently was put up for sale or other action to help resolve the debts of the German parent company.

In the beginning of August 2017, leaving all liabilities behind, all the assets alone were acquired by the original Founder of SolarWorld Ag, Frank Asbeck along with Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) to form SolarWorld Industries GmbH, thus becoming completely debt-free and the only Solar Manufacturer in the world with zero-debt and zero liability.

The new entity, SolarWorld Industries GmbH takes over the production facilities and distribution businesses in Europe, Asia and Africa.

[12] SolarWorld was founded in 1988 as individual company by engineer and chief executive officer Frank Asbeck,[13] and engaged in projects to produce renewable energy.

[21] On May 10, 2017, SolarWorld AG filed for insolvency citing “ongoing price distortions” and “no longer a positive forecast for the future”.

[23] In May 2016, a lawsuit brought by U.S. silicon supplier Hemlock was reported as "threatening the continued existence of the company" with damage claims up to $770 million.

[24] The German facilities of SolarWorld were purchased by its founder Frank Asbeck in conjunction with Qatar Solar Technologies.

Three days later, an appeals court upheld the verdict in the Hemlock case, resulting in SolarWorld AG being responsible to pay the damage claims.

The US-based subsidiary, which reportedly produced half of "SolarWorld" branded modules worldwide, was put "in something of a limbo" by the bankruptcy and a spokesperson stated the company had entered an "open ended" mergers and acquisitions process.

In 2011, utility-scale solar power stations achieved grid parity for domestic consumers as guaranteed tariffs fell below retail electricity prices.

[33]: 11  The current policy is to revise tariffs on a monthly basis reducing them by 1 percent unless actual deployment does not meet agreed upon targets.