Solar Energy Scam Season
Dana Blankenhorn Any hot investment field is ripe for scams. It's that time for solar energy. Sun Energy of Australia says it has been making “solar inverters” since 1987. Its directors appear to all be legitimate businesspeople. But look a little more closely. What is a stock photo of the old Merrill Lynch bull doing there? A flower? The Earth, seen from space? And click the “language” icons on the home page. They don't lead anywhere. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has told the Sydney Morning Herald it suspects stock fraud, adding the same outfit...
SunEdison: Giving Optimism A Bad Name
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...
FPL Selects Sarasota Location For Largest Solar Facility in Florida
FPL Group Inc (FPL) announced that through its Sunshine Energy® program it has selected Rothenbach Park in Sarasota as the site for its first solar array. The 250-kilowatt (kW) solar array will be known as the FPL Solar Array at Rothenbach Park. The new solar facility will be the largest solar array in Florida and one of the largest in the southeast. The solar project is part of FPL's commitment to develop new solar facilities as a result of customer participation in the Sunshine Energy program. The facility at Rothenbach Park is the first solar project to be...
The Pros Pick Four Solar Stocks For 2014
Tom Konrad CFA Green 2014 image via BigStock With the average solar stock having doubled in 2013, it’s much harder to find bargains in the solar industry than it was a year ago. But two of the professional green money managers think there is still value to be found. When I asked them for their top three green stock picks for 2014, they came back with two solar picks each. You can also read about my panel’s green income stock picks and...
DayStar Technologies and Auxilia Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Systems Integration of LightFoil(TM) Photovoltaic...
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...
Spire’s solar cell manufacturing line rolling for Italian firm
Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that it has delivered and installed a multi-megawatt, turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module assembly line for PA. SOL Italia S.p.A. of Varallo Pombia, Italy. The assembly line has been commissioned and is now producing PV modules. The advanced PV module manufacturing production line from Spire includes automated equipment for solar cell stringing and lay-up, lamination, and module testing.
WorldWater & Power Announces Significant Construction Milestone for California Project
Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced that a major solar project had received inspection approval to begin generating full solar electric power - one of two irrigation systems being installed at a tree farm in Borrego Springs, California. The tree farm project uses the patented AquaMax(TM) variable frequency drive (VFD) to power a 250 horsepower well pump. A second irrigation system, scheduled to be completed by the end of March, will drive a similar pump. Once fully operational, the entire $1.8 million project is expected to save an estimated 70% of the farm's electrical bills.
Spire to Provide a PV Module Manufacturing Line to Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente,...
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.
Xantrex receives funding from NREL for high power solar inverter development
Xantrex Technology Inc. (XTX.TO) has been awarded US $873,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under its Photovoltaics Manufacturing Research and Development Initiative. Xantrex will match the funding from NREL during the course of the project for a total budget of $1.74 Million. This program will take place at the Xantrex facility in Livermore, California. Xantrex PV inverters are America's leading choice for large-scale solar installations. Presently, utility-interactive, three-phase inverters are available in models ranging from 10 kW to 225 kW, and multiple inverters can be paralleled for larger power installations. ...
Honda to mass-produce solar cells
Honda Motor Co (HMC) plans to start mass-producing solar cells in 2007, eyeing growing demand for environmentally friendly energy sources. They will build a new factory for thin-film solar cells on the site of a car plant in Kumamoto. The company aims to generate annual sales of $40 million to $70 million from solar cells once the factory's output reaches full annual capacity of 27.5 megawatts, enough to power about 8,000 households. &mdash via Clean Break
Evergreen Solar Shares Dip on Partnership
Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) shares were down yesterday since an SG Cowen analyst said that the Evergreen partnership deal announced this week will reduce the expected profits for 2006. The analyst diluted his estimates for per-share losses in 2006 by a penny to 18 cents and reduced his 2007 earnings estimate by 6 cents to 19 cents per share. Many of the analysts still think this partnership deal is very positive for the company, they just expect that it will postpone profitability out another year. The stock was down over 5% yesterday and it is trading lower this...
Spire to Provide Prisolartec GmbH with Solar Module Production Line
Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that it has entered into a contract with J.v.G. Thoma GmbH, Spire's sales and service representative in Germany, to provide Prisolartec GmbH of Perleberg, Germany, with Spire's multi-megawatt entry level, turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing production line. The production line includes equipment for solar cell stringing and lay-up, lamination, framing, and module testing. Prisolartec selected Spire Corporation as their equipment supplier based on Spire's superior experience, the quality of its equipment, Spire's competitive offering, and its proven ability to provide training assistance to establish their operations.
SatCon Receives over $1.0 Million in New Fuel Cell Electronics Orders
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.
Community Solar Providers In National Grid Territory
See the Buyer's Guide to New York Community Solar for details on how New York community solar works and lists for other utility territories.
VENDOR NAME
PRICING STRUCTURE
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
SPECIAL OFFERS
Abundant Solar Power
10% discount subscription model
Contract to be signed
Amp Energy
Mostly 10% subscription model
12-month contract with auto-renew option, termination fees waived with proper notice
Astral Power
10% discount subscription model (Broker for solar farms)
No cancellation fee. Bill needed in customer’s name
$100 check and $100 donation to Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY
Ampion
10% discount subscription model
Free cancellation at any time, excess credit is banked
BlueWave Solar
10% discount subscription model (Broker for solar farms)
Links to own development as...
Evergreen Solar Silicon Supply Woes
Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) shares were down 9% on Monday after their primary supplier of raw materials pulled out of a contract. Evergreen Solar relies on granular silicon to make cells for solar panels. This silicon was supplied in part by MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR). MEMC previously agreed to supply Evergreen with 90 metric tons of granular silicon, but in January said it did not intend to ship most of the remaining balance of 53 metric tons. Evergreen plans to used its own crush chunks of silicon, but said it has not fully tested the process...
Solar Stocks As the Best Play On The Cleantech Revolution? (Part II)
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)...
