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...

Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that it has executed a contract to provide Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente, of Madrid, Spain, a customized SPI-LINE(TM) turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module production line. Spire's advanced PV module manufacturing equipment and process technology provided will enable Solaria to manufacture state-of-the-art photovoltaic modules from solar cells to address the rapidly growing needs of the European market. The modules produced from the line will be used for on-grid and off-grid electrification projects in Spain and elsewhere.

The one session I was most interested in attending at the Solar Energy confernce dealt with Investing in Solar. This session was primarily focused on venture capital. The panel was moderated by Ron Pernick from Clean Edge The panelists were: Bill Gross - Energy Innovations and IdeaLab. His company is making small CSP units that can be used for roof top installations. Dave Pearce - Miasole. This company is reasearching and producing a CIGS based thin-film PV. Howard Berke - Konara. This company is producing an organic based polymer solution for thin-film PV ...

John Petersen Last week Societe Generale published a thematic research report titled "A new world order, when demand overtakes supply" which examines the macro-economic and demographic trends that will transform the global economy over the next 20 years. It mirrored the theme of Jeremy Grantham's April 2011 quarterly letter titled "Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever" and did a great job of summarizing an issue I touched on in "How PHEVs and EVs Will Sabotage America's Drive For Energy Independence." In the words of Societe Generale: "So, while...

Tom Konrad CFA The Once Bright Future of CSP Solúcar PS10 solar tower. Photo by afloresm via Flickr Since before I started writing about investing in clean energy in 2006, I’ve been fascinated by Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP.)  CSP held the promise of much cheaper energy than was then available from photovoltiac (PV) solar, combined with thermal storage, which eliminated the variability problems of PV.  Unlike other renewable energy able to produce baseload power (geothermal, biomass, and hydro), CSP is scaleable: The solar resource in areas...

DayStar Technologies Inc (DSTI) unveiled LightFoil(TM) for high specific power applications. This proprietary alternative energy solution is the first of many highly anticipated Photovoltaic Foil products expected from DayStar. Military and Homeland Security applications for LightFoil(TM) include high altitude airships (HAA), winged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and orbital applications for next generation satellite craft. The product meets the low weight, high power, and form flexibility metrics required by onboard power generation systems for these weight sensitive applications.

Garvin Jabusch For most of 2011, the stocks of solar power companies of all kinds, from providers of raw polysilicon to developers of finished utility scale plants, have been taking a beating on world and U.S. stock markets, partly because solar has been the industry most singled out for attack by bearish short sellers. I can’t describe this phenomenon any better than did Roberto Pedone in a recent column for thestreet.com: Besides the banking sector post-2008 financial crisis, I can't think of a group that's as hated and despised as solar stocks…For whatever reason, this entire complex...

SatCon Technology Corporation (SATC) nounced the launch of its new 500kW grid connected PowerGate(TM) Photovoltaics inverter with recent orders for the North American market. The 500kW unit rounds out SatCon's family of solar array inverters, including designs for 50kW, 100kW, 225kW and 500kW three-phase applications, and designs for 15 - 30kW single-phase applications. SatCon's products provide a more cost effective alternative for solar integrators by eliminating many of the independent components and field wiring required by other designs. SatCon's photovoltaic inverters include all of the necessary equipment to convert solar array DC power to useable AC power and also...

TheStreet.com is running a video segment on solar power as part of its Wallstrip series. The segment's date is 03/20/2007. If you're a long-term solar follower you definitely won't learn too much here. Nevertheless, the vid does a good job of outlining governmental efforts to boost the growth of solar in the US. Short and interesting. The segment is especially positive on: FirstSolar and Trina Solar . Positive on: Canadian Solar , Ascent Solar and Suntech Power . Negative on: Sunpower Corp .

Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that it has entered into a contract to provide Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), of Ulsan, Korea, a multi-megawatt turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module assembly line. The line is scheduled to be delivered during the Spring of 2005. Spire's advanced PV module manufacturing equipment and process technology will enable HHI to manufacture state-of-the-art PV modules from solar cells to address the growing Korean and Asian solar PV market.

By Jeff Siegel This past Saturday afternoon, Rick Diaz locked in another customer. A former roofing contractor, Rick is now a sales rep and installation manager for a small roofing and solar company in Maryland. He tells me most people he talks to about solar have pretty much already made up their minds before he even walks in the door: The investment works out for young couples who are going to be in these homes for more than ten years. But most seem more concerned about the environment than the return on investment. Either way, it's a...

Xantrex Technology Inc. (XTX.TO) will install 450 Xantrex GT Series inverters in conjunction with its SunTile solar electric panels to support the electrical needs of the homes. The solar electrical systems will offer homeowners a solution to reduce electrical costs and at the same time reduce emissions from fossil fuel electrical generation. Developers are seeing an increase in demand for renewable power solutions and are responding by seamlessly integrating solar power systems when building new homes. Home owners can now move into a new home with an established solar power solution eligible for applicable federal and state incentives,...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced the signing of a contract with the Borough of Hightstown in Central New Jersey to build two solar power systems on water facilities, subject to financing. One installation will serve a water treatment plant and public works garage, while the other will power a wastewater treatment facility. Construction value of the complete project is $4.9 million.

by Garvin Jabusch A couple days ago Bloomberg reported the following: "Saudi Arabia plans to generate solar electricity equaling the amount of its energy from crude exports, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said." Wait, what? That sounds like a ridiculous quantity of solar electricity. The article doesn't say quantitatively how much energy that is, so I did a quick check. Saudi Arabia exports about 2.7 billion barrels of oil per year, each containing the equivalent of 1,700 Kilowatt hours of electricity for a total of 4.59 × 1012 KwH per year, or the equal of about one quarter or the...

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced that it has received an order for its new CoolAir DC product from one of the leading producers of photovoltaic modules in Europe. CoolAir DC uses thermal energy and compressed air to provide power, can be cycled regularly without a loss in performance and is environmentally friendly. By using solar energy to heat the thermal storage unit (TSU) and compress air in the storage tanks, energy can be captured and used at a later time. The share price of ACPW has recently retested the trendline and I will be adding to...

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."