Solar

by Clean Energy Intel Warren Buffett-controlled MidAmerican Energy Holdings on Friday acquired an interest in a second solar project. In the latest deal, the company has acquired 49% of NRG Energy´s $1.8bn Agua Caliente project.This follows the company´s acquisition of 100% of First Solar´s $2bn Topaz Solar Farm less than two weeks ago. As was the case with the first Topaz deal, we know little of the arithmetic faced by MidAmerican holdings in this latest agreement. However, what we do know is the following - Agua Caliente is a $1.8bn project owned by NRG Energy (NRG) in Yuma...

DayStar Technologies Inc (DSTI) and Auxilia, Inc. today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding design and development of fully integrated photovoltaic power systems for the unmanned airship (lighter-than-air vehicle) marketplace. The objective of the agreement is to develop plug-and-play architecture for the existing and developing products of both companies that could enable diverse airship configurations for low, middle and stratospheric altitude applications. DayStar and Auxilia will focus on integrating DayStar's proprietary LightFoil(TM) photovoltaic power product with Auxilia's products by utilizing the Auxilia Airship Simulation Center (AASC). LightFoil(TM) is specifically designed for unmanned airship applications where weight, high...

I'm going to be doing some extensive traveling this summer. While traveling I always need to power my various electronic gadgets so I can keep intouch with clients and my office. One of my trips this year is going to London and a photography tour of the English countryside. So I just ordered the Brunton Solar Port to keep all my various batteries charged. I purchased it from Amazon.com and I will do a review once I receive it in a couple days. The Brunton Solar Port 4.4 is available for purchase now at Amazon.com....

Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Biohaus PV Handels GmbH for sale of up to 9.6 MW of photovoltaic (PV) laminates. Biohaus will incorporate the UNI-SOLAR® BIPV laminates with its proprietary panel design to address Germany's expanding grid-connected PV market. Using United Solar Ovonic's thin-film amorphous solar laminates, these thin-film products will be the highest rated peak power modules available on the German market.

Spire Corp (SPIR) reported revenues for the year ended December 31, 2005 of $22,422,000, a 30% increase from $17,278,000 for 2004, not including $6,320,000 and $3,000,000, respectively, of gains recorded in 2005 and 2004 from the sales of licenses. Net income for 2005, including the gain on the sales of licenses in both 2005 and 2004, was $44,000 or $0.01 per share, compared with a net loss of $4,120,000 or $0.60 per share for 2004.

Tom Konrad, CFA Prospective investors in solar manufacturers should consider the competitive forces that constrain the industry's long-term profitability. In the first part of this series, I showed how a competitive analysis of the corn ethanol industry in early 2007 illuminated the forces that soon caused ethanol company stock prices to collapse in late 2007.  I also implied that the solar cell manufacturers, including industry leaders such as Sunpower (SPWRA) and First Solar (FSLR) are vulnerable to these forces and may not be able to maintain high returns on capital over the long term. I'm not...

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.

Worldwater Corp (WWAT)has finalized a contract to install a 57-horsepower solar-powered pumping system at the Idyllwild Water District, in Idyllwild, California. It is the first use of large solar pumps by a water utility and the first use of WorldWater's AquaMax(TM) for this purpose, according to Quentin T. Kelly, WorldWater Chairman and CEO. WorldWater, a full service provider of solar power solutions, will handle all aspects of installation of the $309,000 system.

FPL Group Inc (FPL) and affiliates of Carlyle/Riverstone announced today that they have purchased ownership interest for an effective 141 megawatts (MW) of solar power generation in California. Under terms of the agreement, FPL Energy, along with certain FPL Energy affiliates, and Carlyle/Riverstone purchased majority interest in five 30-megawatt Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS III-VII) assets in the Mojave Desert. FPL Energy will operate the SEGS plants and hold a 45 percent ownership interest in the projects. Carlyle/Riverstone, as co-general partner, will own a 49 percent interest in the projects with the remainder being held by a group...

Charles Morand One of the - if not THE - most popular debates in solar PV circles is about when exactly the electricity produced by solar PV systems will reach "grid-parity", or become competitive with like-generation fuels (i.e. non-baseload) on a stand-alone basis (i.e. no feed-in tariffs, mandates or rebates). A lot of the time, these discussions slip into arcane sub-debates about module costs, as expressed on a dollar per watt basis, and how far they need to fall for solar PV to be competitive. But module costs are only one part...

Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends has a good writeup on a new photovoltaic cell that doesn't need a battery for power storage. "Solar cells can convert solar energy to electricity, but that's about all they can do. You need batteries to store, and then release, this electricity. But this extra-step might soon no longer be necessary. Japanese scientists have developed a new type of solar cell which integrates an electricity storage device."

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...

Parabolic Troughs have dominated Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) until recently, but several companies are vying to replace them. Will the upstarts succeed, or will incumbency and improvements to trough technology ward off the competition? Dr. Arnold Leitner, CEO of Skyfuel, Inc., thinks the battle for dominance of CSP will be "winner-take-all." The technology which can deliver power when it is needed at a reasonable price should triumph. Photovoltaic (PV) technologies are rapidly producing price reductions, and can be used almost anywhere, but only produce power when the sun is shining. In contrast, CSP is still cheaper than PV enables...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced the signing of a $295,301 contract to provide design, engineering and solar equipment for the Voorhees Township Public Schools in Voorhees, New Jersey. The primary contractor for the project is Ray Angelini, Inc. (RAI) of Sewell, New Jersey. Construction will begin immediately for the installation of photovoltaic panel array on the roof of the Voorhees Middle School on Hollyoak Drive. WorldWater's patented electronics will automatically control power delivery to the school and manage the net metering of surplus electricity back to the utility to earn renewable energy credits.

Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that Bandwidth Semiconductor LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary, now offers custom gallium arsenide (GaAs) concentrator solar cells for terrestrial applications. These GaAs-based solar cells are based on Spire's space and terrestrial solar cell technology developed over 25 years, during which record high cell efficiencies for terrestrial applications were produced. Higher efficiency means lower cost of electricity.