Solar

Legend Investment Corp. (LVCP.PK) announced that it has received a sales contract and partial payment for approximately $9 million worth of solar modules. The company has confirmed an order for 2MW of modules. The modules will be supplied to the customer from Q2/06 into Q4/06. The solar modules are part of a large grid-connected solar energy system which will generate returns from high feed-in tariffs for solar electricity. The system is located in Spain.

Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced its largest sales agreement to date. Evergreen Solar and PowerLight Corporation have entered into a definitive agreement for a guaranteed contract which calls for Evergreen Solar to ship a minimum of $70 million of photovoltaic (PV) modules to PowerLight over the next four years. There are defined options which could increase the value of the shipments in the contract to approximately $170 million. Shipments to PowerLight are scheduled to commence during the first half of 2006. The stock has gapped up over 14% this morning on this news. Cramer from CNBC has...

Solar power equipment maker SunPower Corp., a unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) raised the expected price of its planned initial public offering to between $16 and $18 per share from a previous range of $12 to $14. The company expects to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "SPWR" sometime this week. I have always found the IPOHome.com website helpful tracking this type of information down. You can also find a great deal of info at NASDAQ.com as well for new IPO's.

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.

Tom Konrad CFA Think low solar panel prices drive a renewed boom in solar installations? Consider inverter companies as a way to play it. I don't usually follow solar stocks because I think solar is just a little too cool, and the space is too well covered by other analysts for me to feel like I can offer new insights.  Nevertheless, the sharp decline in solar stocks this year has been tempting me to dip my toe in the golden stuff.  Since I'm no solar stock expert, I've...

Tyler at Clean Break was able to listen in on the Elk Corp (ELK) earnings conference call this morning. Elk has had a multiple year partnership with ATS Automation (ATA.TO) solar division Spheral Solar. The two companies have been planning a commercial release of solar-integrated roofing and building material products. Elk Roofing chairman and CEO Tom Karol, responding to questions from MacMurray Whale from Sprott Securities, said the Spheral Solar roofing product is still in alpha testing but the company hopes to move into beta testing i.e. put it on real rooftops in the marketplace in...

Spire Corp (SPIR) received a Nasdaq Staff Determination indicating that the Company is no longer in compliance with the $10,000,000 minimum stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing set forth in Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(3), and that its common stock is, therefore, subject to delisting from the Nasdaq National Market. While this type of event is never a good thing, it certainly doesn't ring the death of this stock. They will just start trading OTC.

Rob Day over at Cleantech Investing has started a series of "Year End Thoughts" on various cleantech investing topics. His first one deals with Solar and is great read.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) announced that it has signed an agreement with Actus Lend Lease to supply 7MW of photovoltaic (PV) products. The solar network will pump clean energy into the Army's power grid and is designed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by 30 percent for the entire complex of 7,894 new and renovated homes that Actus Lend Lease plans for Army families on Oahu. The captured energy also will help power 11 community centers and maintenance offices that will be built among the new and renovated homes. The stock is trading up over 5%...

Spire Corp (SPIR) announced that on March 16, 2006, Spire entered into a Turn-Key Project Agreement to provide a privately owned solar firm, located in Europe, a commercially sized, multi-megawatt, turn-key Photovoltaic Cell Manufacturing Line for $6.75 million. The new cell line will be integrated with an existing production line. Solar cells are one of the key components used in manufacturing solar modules.

Tom Konrad CFA Green energy experts accept that solar panels are one of the least cost effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint.  Nevertheless, many buy solar stocks.  They should rethink their investment strategies. I recently spoke on "Stock Selection in the Era of Peak Oil and Climate Change" at the ASPO 2009 International Peak Oil Conference.  Whenever green energy enthusiasts find out that I analyze green energy stocks professionally, they react in one of two ways.  Many want to know my top stock pick in general (New Flyer Industries NFI-UN.TO/NFYIF.PK) or in their favorite sector (see below.)   ...

Spire Corp (SPIR) announced the completion of Building Integrated Photovoltaic ("BIPV") Systems at the Bethel New Life Lake-Pulaski Commercial Center. The commercial center, located on the West Side of Chicago, will house a day care facility, commercial enterprises, a clinic and employment services. The Lake-Pulaski Commercial Center has two BIPV systems. One, approximately 25 kilowatts in size, is a roof-tile system; the other is a 7-kilowatt awning system. The BIPV awning system is the first commercial building appearance of clear back-sheet photovoltaic modules locally manufactured by Spire Solar for a greater appeal to aesthetics. The awnings will improve the...

Jennifer Runyon On the heels of Brightsource Energy's announcement last month that it was canceling its plans to go public, SolarCity on Monday announced that it plans to conduct a registered initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. The IPO will begin after the Securities and Exchange Commission completes the review process that SolarCity initiated on April 26. No further information about the IPO such as when and at what price shares will be available is available at this time. SolarCity has been in the residential solar PV leasing space since 2006 and...

...but it may take another year to get there by Clean Energy Intel Light at the End of the Tunnel photo via BigStock Suntech Power’s (STP) first quarter earnings report provided some supportive insight into the process of consolidation currently underway in the solar industry. The financial numbers were of course less than constructive, though much as expected as pricing pressures continue to make life difficult for the sector. Perhaps of more interest were the company’s insights into the inroads...

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...