Solar

FPL Group Inc (FPL) announced today that it has been recognized on the first, annual list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. FPL Group, Inc. is one of only 100 companies chosen from 2000 of the world's largest corporations whose sustainability performance falls within the top five percent of their business sector. The company is part of a select group of only 20 U.S.-based companies included in this special recognition. FPL Group was selected based on its ability to manage the triple bottom line - society, environment and economy.

Joseph McCabe Many people ask me, “which CIGS company is going to emerge as winner in the race towards high efficiency thin film PV’s? To provide an enlightened perspective to the question, some historical perspectives are needed. First Solar (FSLR) has helped the Thin Film PV Industry by proving that respectable solar to electric area efficiencies can be achieved in a low cost manufacturing processes, with respectable performance over time. First Solar’s technology is cadmium telluride (CdTe) on glass. Previously, amorphous silicon was the thin film leader, with the highest commercially available thin film area efficiencies; currently they...

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...

Dr. John Tuttle, Chairman and CEO of DayStar Technologies Inc (DSTI) released a very extensive operational update detailing fundamental progress that has been made by DayStar over the past several months. "Since my last communication of this nature, we have made great progress towards establishing our first product-based revenue opportunities and have announced two new exciting customer relationships. Specifically, on June 9, 2005, we reported signing a purchase agreement with Blitzstrom, GmbH, a PV system integrator of Megawatt-scale PV power plants and a distributor of photovoltaic systems and components in Germany and the EU. This agreement, which could...

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.

Charles Morand Tom and I recently received complimentary copies of a new book called "Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World", edited FTSE Group's Director of Responsible Investment Will Oulton*.  The book is a compendium of articles by 31 different authors broken down into three main categories: (1) environmental and low-carbon technologies; (2) investment approaches, products and markets; and (3) regulation, incentives, investor and company case studies. While Tom will provide a comprehensive review of the book once he's finished reading it in its entirety, I will instead review a few selected chapters over...

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...

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Florida have uncovered information that may help “molecular wires� replace silicon in micro-electronic circuits and components in solar energy storage systems. This technology will allow solar panel manufactures to replace rigid silicon based materials with polymer nanowires, which are cheaper and lighter. This polymer nature will allow for curved panels.

I purchased shares in Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) this morning for both my personal portfolio and also the mutual fund. ALTI is a holding company that specializes in nanomaterials and also contains a life sciences division. The materials company has research in high performance batteries, fuel cells, and photovoltaics. Altair announced earnings today and the stock is up on the morning trading. Revenue Increases 68 Percent for Third Quarter and 230 Percent for Nine-Month Period "An increase in revenue of 230 percent for the first three quarters of 2005 is representative of the significant progress Altair has...

When the financial turmoil began, I sold my riskiest stocks.  Even a successful bailout bill is unlikely to return us to the heady days of 2006 and 2007.  Yet there is a bright side for clean energy investors.  Despite the recent evidence to the contrary, a financial crisis is likely to convince legislators of the importance of getting the economy going again, and of doing so with the least amount of public money possible. Concentrating Solar Power It was with this thought in mind that I attended CSP Today's Second Annual CSP Summit US in San Francisco. ...

Tom Konrad, Ph.D. The last panel I attended at Solar 2009 focused on investment opportunities in Solar.  This is the first of several entries with ideas from the speakers.   They were: Allen Goodman, of ECG Consulting Group James Groelinger, of Bellegrove Associates J. Peter Lynch, of Salem Financial, Inc. Pradeep Haldar, Ph.D., MBA of the University at Albany Each had perspectives on the solar (mostly photovoltaic (PV) industry, and struck me as very knowledgeable in the field.  The caliber of the industry and investment knowledge on display impressed me, so I'll share with readers some of the...

Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced that the company was named to the prestigious New England Technology Fast 50 list. The annual ranking, conducted by Deloitte & Touche LLP and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, designates the fastest-growing companies located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island by revenue growth.

Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced a major advance in the development of its String Ribbon(TM) manufacturing process that has the potential to produce silicon wafers thinner than 150 microns. The Company has filed a patent application for its thin wafer technology. "Evergreen Solar's mission since its inception has been to produce high-quality solar products at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods," said Richard M. Feldt, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Today we are announcing an important step in realizing that goal. With the latest enhancement to our Gemini II double ribbon growth process, Evergreen Solar has...

Aug 11-09 Solar PV Charles Morand A couple of weeks ago, I noted the importance of examining parameters other than module costs when gauging the economic competitiveness of solar PV energy. I noted how multiple factors influence the levelized cost of energy produced by solar PV systems, and thus its relative cost position on the grid. Nothing new here.   However, besides standard test conditions (STC) conversion efficiency, or nameplate conversion efficiency, public data on parameters other than cost per watt-peak is not always easy to come by. That's...

Privatly held Stirling Energy Systems is in the news today. This company takes the 19th century Stirling engine and pairs it with a solar collector to generate clean energy. "The Stirling engine makes solar power so much more efficiently than photovoltaic solar cells can," said Robert Liden, chief administrative officer at Stirling Energy Systems Inc. (Phoenix). "That's because the Stirling solar dish directly converts solar heat into mechanical energy, which turns an ac electrical generator." The bottom line, he said, "is that large farms of Stirling solar dishes ��? say, 20,000-dish farms ��? could deliver cheap solar electricity...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced that it has won a $1.9 million dollar bid award to design and install two solar electric systems at the Liberty Science Center, the most visited science museum in New Jersey. One photovoltaic installation, a 122 kW unit, is to be mounted on the roof of the newly expanded Liberty Science Center facility and will face the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of clean, renewable energy. The other, a 105 kW installation, is a "Solar Walkway" that will lead from the bus parking lot to the center's main entrance. Here, overhead solar panels...