Solar

By Jeff Siegel Hannon Armstrong (NYSE:HASI), one of my top picks for 2014, just made me very happy. Yesterday, the company announced its Q2 Core Earnings of $4.7 million or $0.22 per share. On a GAAP basis, the Company recorded net income of $2.9 million. Here are some other highlights. . . Raised approximately $70 million in April, 2014 in a follow-on offering. Increased the flexibility and expanded the capacity of its existing credit facility by $200 million. Completed more than $200 million worth of transactions, including the acquisition of a $107 million portfolio of land...

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP) announced an exclusive contract to supply a 130KW solar energy system for Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium, the main stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The world-class solar energy system will be installed at 12 entrances of the Bird's Nest Stadium.

XSUNX Inc. (XSNX) announced that it has accepted $5,000,000 in financing from Cornell Capital Partners, LP to help drive the continued development and growth of the Company. Under the terms of the new financing, the Company would begin receiving the influx of growth capital immediately allowing for a more rapid acceleration of R&D and the initiation of business development efforts.

Yesterday, I came across an article about Google planning to intsall the largest corporate solar project. Here is a summary: 9,200 solar panels will be placed on six buildings at its Mountain View headquarters by next spring this will produce up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity - enough to supply 30 percent of the campus' electricity on a hot summer day a company spokesman said that concern about the environment as well as the rising price of electricity motivated the company to go solar company spokesman also made the comment: "'If we can dispel the myth along the...

Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced that it has entered into a multi-year supply contract with Donauer Solartechnik, a German-based solar power distributor. The agreement calls for Evergreen Solar to ship approximately $125 million of photovoltaic modules to Donauer over the next four years, based on current exchange rates. The German solar market is currently the largest market in the world and these types of partnerships are critical to getting a foothold into that marketplace. The shares of ESLR are currently trading up over 3% today on the news.

Northern Power Systems, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC), has received a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to construct and install a state-of-the-art photovoltaic (solar) energy system at the Black Rock Forest Consortium's Center for Science and Education in Cornwall, New York. The building that will incorporate Northern's solar energy system is both a cutting-edge research center and a sustainable energy facility, utilizing technologies such as self-composting toilets, solar radiation, and geothermal heating and cooling systems. The site also has a sophisticated data acquisition system in place for research...

Charles MorandLike Tom, I attended part of the Solar 2009 conference last week. One of the most interesting presentations I heard was by Andy Black, CEO of OnGrid Solar, on the potential impact on residential solar installations of removing the $2,000 ITC limit (link to the actual paper). Prior to changes in October 2008, ITC tax credits for rooftop solar PV installations were capped at $2,000. In the author's own words: This paper presents revised and expanded financial analyses of residential cases . It will look at Internal Rate of Return (IRR) only (for simplicity of...

Solar power equipment maker SunPower Corp., a unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) raised the expected price of its planned initial public offering to between $16 and $18 per share from a previous range of $12 to $14. The company expects to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "SPWR" sometime this week. I have always found the IPOHome.com website helpful tracking this type of information down. You can also find a great deal of info at NASDAQ.com as well for new IPO's.

Tom Konrad CFA Renewable Energy stocks have been suffering for over a year. but the sector's poster-child has also been the whipping boy.  While the S&P 500 has risen 8% percent in 2010, the broader alternative energy sector is down 10% and solar has fared even worse.  Solar is down 27% for the year, with a 17% drop in the last 2 weeks (see chart.) Ian Tharp - CIBC World Markets These numbers were brought home to me by a presentation by Ian S. Tharp, CFA, an Executive Director and Cleantech and Renewable Energy...

Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced that it has secured a $5 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. The $5 million revolving credit line is available to the Company for a period of twelve months. The funds will be used to further support the Company's ongoing expansion plans and its strategy to be a leader in the global solar energy industry.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a recent report claiming that solar PV was going to be at the fore of the "cleantech revolution." I've never doubted solar PV's potential. What I like most about it, besides the fact that it's the most abundant energy form on Earth, is the ability for solar technologies to be deployed either through the building stock as a load-abatement measure or in large arrays of panels as solar parks. No other power generation technology can be scaled simultaneously through these two routes. Besides investments in Energy Conversion Devices (ENER)...

Shares of Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP) started trading yesterday and the stock closed with a 34% gain on the day. Suntech is a solar PV manufacture based in China's Jiangsu Province. They plan on using this cash infusion to expand manufacturing capacity and to research ways of lowering the cost of producing silicon solar cells. This stock is one way to purchase shares in two hot areas right now (Solar and China.) I'm not able to purchase shares in this company yet for the mutual fund since Marketocracy doesn't list this company yet. I'm currently...

Universal Communication Systems Inc (UCSY) announced that the company will launch its new complete range of Patented PV Solar Chargers for the consumer electronics market in May. The new products are all fitted with new exclusively developed "Battery On Board" (BOB) technology, enabling the consumer to apply "charging" to his/her electronic device 24 hours per day, all year round. The entire range of our products is designed to operate both in sunlight, and indoors.

Privately held Konarka Technologies, Inc. announced it has acquired Siemens AG's organic photovoltaic research activities. The acquisition brings together two leading efforts to develop and commercialize a new generation of photovoltaics that are inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture and versatile. These new plastic power cells will make it possible for any electronic device or structure to carry its own on-board source of renewable energy.

By Harris Roen Five solar stocks announced key updates – three show improved prospects, and two warn of danger. Power REIT (PW) More Info Power REIT will acquire 100 acres of land underlying a 20 megawatt solar array to be developed. The leasee will sell electricity to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE), which should then provide a steady income stream to PW shareholders. The stock price is up 11% for the year, in addition to a yield of 3.9%. Press release ...

Garvin Jabusch Trade War photo via Bigstock The United States Department of Commerce Thursday, and of all things at the behest of a German-owned company, SolarWorld AG (SRWRF.PK), imposed extreme tariffs on China-made solar panels and modules of between 31% and 250%, making them much less affordable for U.S. consumers. Commerce took the additional extraordinary step of making the tariffs retroactive for 90 days to prevent U.S businesses and homeowners from getting a decent price on the basis that their local...