Solar

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.

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...

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.

WorldWater Corp. (WWAT) announced financial results for its second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2004. The significant increase in revenue is due to the Company's realization of its objective of providing world-class, proprietary solar technology systems to the agricultural and institutional marketplaces. As proof of this fact, the Company recently completed supplying the massive one megawatt PV system installation at Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, CA.

By Jeff Siegel Solar stocks are getting a thrashing today after Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) came clean about a possible bankruptcy. The stock tanked at the open and is still trading below $1.00 – down from yesterday's closing price of $1.70. Of course, the writing was on the wall with this one. Yingli's been struggling for a long time. And while I'm extremely bullish on solar, I've kept a safe distance from Yingli, as well as a lot of other China solar stocks. That being said, even the solid, revenue-generating companies not operating out of China are...

Universal Communication Systems Inc (UCSY) announced that the company is set to make a major new investment and plans to open a new office in Los Angeles, California from which to market PV Solar Panels and PV Solar Energy Systems throughout the state. This follows the recent announcement by the State of California that it was to enact a Major Incentive Program which is the largest solar energy policy ever enacted in the United States: an 11-year, $3.2 billion incentive program aimed at spurring installation of PV Solar Panels / Systems.

Ryan Hubbell Despite healthy expected returns, finance-related challenges remain the largest barriers to renewable energy development, according to NREL's Renewable Energy Finance Tracking Initiative (REFTI). Two recently released reports on solar and geothermal technologies show greater than 10% expected returns for both developers and tax equity investors. Yet roughly half of both geothermal and solar respondents (350 in total) reported financial issues (project economics, PPAs, creditworthiness, and raising capital) as the largest barriers to development. In light of this, only 11%-13% of respondents reported abandoning their projects. Figure 1. Expected returns...

Dana Blankenhorn The lessons of technology investing also apply to solar investing. The decision by Evergreen Solar (ESLR) to move to China has some analysts saying "ha-ha" over solar energy. But in fact it reveals a basic fallacy in the way solar power, and solar power stocks, are analyzed by Wall Street. It's a manufacturing assumption. Solar panels are said to be a manufacturing business. So if prices are going down, that's bad. If governments are no longer seeing solar as just good PR, if they're treating it as a real industry that has to make...

Tom Konrad, Ph.D. This continues a series of entries on opportunities in solar stocks, based on a panel at Solar 2009.  The first article introduced the panelists, and took a look at the solar sector as a whole.  The others focus on individual companies. Pradeep Haldar Investors remain bullish on thin film technologies such as CdTe (First Solar's technology.) CdTe currently has the lowest cost, but it may not have long term sustainability. Peter Lynch on First Solar (FSLR) If First Solar ever stumbles, gravity will take over. They could fall 50% in a day. They...

XSUNX Inc. (XSNX) announced that continued product development success has produced large area integrated solar cell modules on transparent polyester films. This represents a milestone for the Company in efforts under its Phase III development program to perfect a scalable manufacturing method for large area solar cells on inexpensive Polyethylenenapthalate, or PEN based thin film plastics. XsunX is an interesting company that was brought to my attention from one of my readers. They are developing transparent films that can be used on normal windows. These films can be used as solar cells to produce energy. First...

by Paula Mints Potentially stranding a significant number of solar development plans as well as some assets, SunEdison (SUNE) finally took the step that many expected and filed for bankruptcy. Pondering where things went wrong for the troubled firm leads to a winding road of overexpansion, debt and the traditional sidekick of highly visible companies and people, hubris. Hubris, of course, happens quite often in the corporate world and there is a long list of companies that were swayed by it – who knows, one is probably being swayed at this very minute. In the solar...

Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC) announced that it has entered into an agreement to design, engineer and construct a 400 kW solar power system at Timberland's 429,000 square-foot Ontario distribution center in Southern California. The 401.8 kW photovoltaic (PV) system will be installed on a new "TruckPort" steel mounting structure next to Timberland's warehouse, leveraging an unused area of the facility's truck yard by providing storage space for the facility as well as shaded parking for employees. A total of 1,960 PV modules will be mounted on the structure in strings of 14 each. The high-efficiency modules and...

Is it the unprecedented amount of media attention climate change is currently getting? Is it the State of the Union Address? Is it the price of oil? Or is it a combination of factors? In the end, it doesn't really matter; it's this time of year again and the value of the solar sector is heading north. Today was a great day for solar stocks, while the market as a whole was mainly flat. I remember this period last year very well. I was long Suntech Power and Energy Conversion Devices , acquired...

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...

Hans Deuel at Clearfish Research presents some very good concerns about the possible manipulation of the shares of XSUNX Inc. (XSNX). I've received a number of comments about XsunX, all from the same person. I decided to look into them. They are working on transparent solar cells, have a weird history, and a weird structure. The only technological information I can find on them is all paid advertising (from IPODesktop and others) masquerading as research. Each of their press releases are misleading. They offer one key statement, and then go on about intentions. For example, the latest one...

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...