The Rocky Mountain News reports that Xcel Energy Inc has voluntarily offered to shut down two coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions. The company’s plans have been approved by state regulators, and the plants will close in 2010 and 2012. Xcel will build a 200-megawatt solar energy facility and add 850 megawatts of wind energy in order to replace the older coal-fired plants. Several solar companies have expressed interest in bidding on the solar plant, … Read the rest
Category Archives: Solar Energy
Suntech Power (STP) Signs Wafer Supply Agreement With GCL Silicon
Suntech Power (STP) has entered into a silicon wafer supply agreement with GCL Silicon to purchase 9420 metric tons of polysilicon and 1.1 gigawatts of silicon wafers from GCL between 2008 and 2012. Suntech has now secured about 1 GW of silicon for next year. Tight supplies have hampered the industry but its expected to ease a bit by the end of year.
“These agreements with GCL Silicon will greatly strengthen our silicon pipeline and … Read the rest
Solarfun Releases Results for Second Quarter (SOLF)
MSN Money reports that Solarfun Power Holdings, a company that manufactures silicon ingots and photovoltaic cells, has just released its financial results for the second quarter.
Some highlights of the report were as follows:
Since the first quarter of 2008, net revenue has increased 12.7% to 197.1 million US dollars. The average selling price of Solarfun stock has also increased, from $4.07 to 4.17/share. Over the past year, the company’s operating profit has increased … Read the rest
GT Solar (SOLR) Reports Strong Quarter
GT Solar (SOLR) which IPO’d near the end of July and has struggled since on concerns over its relationship with largest customer LDK Solar, reported a strong quarter after the bell today with the company turning a 3 cent/share profit, reversing the loss in the year ago quarter as revenues soared 272% from the year ago quarter to 57 million.
The company said the sales increase was due primarily to its DSS 450, its new … Read the rest
LDK Solar (LDK) On Target For Increased Production, Releases Revenue Expectations That Exceed Expectations
LDK Solar, a company from China that manufactures solar wafers, held a ceremony 0n August 23rd to celebrate increased production capacity. At this time, their plant is capable of producing 1.0 GW of wafers, and they plan to increase that even further to 1.2 GW capacity by the end of the year.
Also, LDK Solar released financial projections for 2009, with predicted revenue exceeding analysts’ expectations. Here is their financial outlook for 2009:
… Read the rest2009
SunPower Corporation up 2.27% (SPWR)
Askstockguru.com notes that Sunpower Corporation is in a "bullish" phase right now. The site recommends waiting until the price drops back down to 90.05/share if you are aggressive, and 78.6/share if you are conservative. The article also advises potential investors to:
… Read the restRisk Management: Consider risking somewhere between 7.6785(7.95%) and 12.7975(13.25%) points on your position. Risk management is an important part of trading. Our risk management strategy is based on the average daily range of the
Walmart Heir Sells a Significant Portion of Stock in First Solar (FSLR)
According to Clusterstock.com, JCL Holdings sold 1.4 million shares of stock in First Solar during the month of August. JCL Holdings is affiliated with Walmart heir John T. Walton, one of the founding investors in First Solar. Should First Solar stockholders be worried? Probably not. JCL Holdings still has 10.7 million shares, while Walton himself controls 23 million shares.
First Solar’s stock has risen to 14x what is was when the company went public, so … Read the rest
Ernst & Young on Renewable Energy
The credit crunch has so far had little impact on the attractiveness of renewable energy as an investment, according to Ernst & Young.
From March 2007 to June 2008, the Wilderhill Clean Energy Index [NEX] rose by 17%, compared with an 11% decline for the FTSE index. The solar sector has shown a rise of 56% during the period, while wind companies fell 7% and biomass stocks were down by 34% on average. 
E&Y … Read the rest
Solar Calls Heating Up (STP, CSIQ)
Call activity is picking up in the solar names. Suntech Power Holdings (STP) was up over 12% today to $41.75. Almost 5,000 STP Sept 45’s traded today vs and open interest of 5,351. There was also roughly 600 Oct 45’s, 1,000 Oct 50’s, and 500 Oct 55’s vs almost zero open interest before today.
CSIQ saw similar action. The standout strike is the Sept 30 that traded 6,600 contracts today vs an open interest of … Read the rest
Piper Bullish on Suntech (STP) After Earnings
Following Suntech’s (STP) better than expected Q2 earnings this morning, Piper Jaffray is bullish according to StreetInsider.com.
The firm said the results were driven by strong shipments and average selling prices, noting that Suntech has secured 900MW of its 09 silicon supply at favorable pricing and has long term supply contracts in place which should help significantly lower costs.
Also mentioned were indications from Suntech that Italian demand in 09 could be as strong … Read the rest