TradingMarkets.com is reporting that a group of Chinese solar power companies has presented a plan to the Chinese Ministry of Science to try to drop the cost of producing solar power to 1 yuan/KWH within two years. Particpants in the plan include Solar Power Technologies, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar Inc, LDK Solar and Solarfun Power Holdings Co.
According to TradingMarkets.com,
… Read the restAn industry insider said it’s feasible to carry out the plan, which combines companies
Hoku Scientific (HOKU) is out with results after the bell today and they aren’t pretty. The company reported a non GAAP EPS loss of .03/share, a wider loss than the year ago quarter in which the company lost .01/share. Revenues were equally as awful, coming in at $767K.. good for a nearly 50% drop from the year ago period. Their outlook for next year doesn’t get any better with a projection of only $5 million … Read the rest
Trina Solar issued a statement describing the companies operational highlights for the 4th quarter of 2008. The company managed to meet its solar module shipment target, shipping between 55 and 60 MW. Also, it was able to reduce the non-silicon-related costs of manufacturing its solar modules by approximately .13 per watt.
Here’s what Trina Solar’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jifan Gao, had to say about his company’s 4th quarter operational highlights:
… Read the rest"Despite lower module selling
MEMC Electronics (WFR) beat Wall St estimates after the bell today, but the good news ends right there. The company posted non GAAP profits of .65/share, which beat estimates of .61 but represented the first quarter of negative growth (-12%) over the year ago quarter in a couple years. Revenues came in about 17 million ahead of estimates but were also significantly lower than the year ago quarter.. 21% lower. However, it was at the … Read the rest
LDK Solar held an opening ceremony for Phase I of its 16,000-ton polysilicon project. Construction began on the project in Xinyu City, China in February of last year. The project will eventually produce 16,000 tons of polysilison per year, which will be used to make solar wafers. This will help decrease LDK’s production cost while ensuring a reliable supply. Trading Markets has more details about the project:
… Read the restThe project that broke earth in February 2008
Working with Solar Power Partners, Inc, Akeena Solar announced the completion of a 385-kilowatt solar power installation in San Francisco. The system is San Francisco’s largest commercial solar power installation to date. Akeena Solar provided the system itself, and Solar Power Partners developed and financed the project. Solar Power Partners will also operate the system and sell the power it generates to the site owners.
Barry Cinnamon, Akeena Solar’s CEO, commented on the installation:
… Read the restAkeena
The order, placed by an undisclosed German solar integrator, was for 200 MW worth of solar panels. Solar Power, Inc, recently received IEC certification for its products, and the company expects the certification to create increased demand for its products, particularly in Europe.
Bradley Ferrell, president of SPI’s commercial sales division, commented on the sale:
… Read the rest“Our recent IEC certification and this transaction mark what we believe to be the beginning of important new opportunities for
Castle & Cooke Hawaii and SunPower announced today that their new solar energy farm, the La Ola Solar Farm, is now producing solar energy on the Hawaiian island of Lana’i. Utilizing SunPower trackers, the new facility is capable of producing 1.2 MW of solar energy, enough to meet 30% of Lana’i’s electricity needs.
Here’s what Tom Werner, SunPower’s CEO, had to say about the event:
… Read the rest"Clean, reliable solar power will become a core energy investment
With the establishment of a new photovoltaic systems division, Toshiba is trying to carve out a piece of the solar energy market for itself. Toshiba will not be targeting residences or the "average Joe;" rather, they are angling for large industrial customers. Also, Toshiba will not make solar panels in-house. Instead, they will buy solar panels from outside companies and use them along with Toshiba’s proprietary supercharge ion battery (SCiB) technology and the companies … Read the rest
After several days of large gains, solar stocks are going to have a difficult time tomorrow after LDK Solar (LDK) came out after the bell and cut its expectations for 4Q and FY09 citing .. you guessed it! Lower demand.. oh and a delay in ramping production at its 1000 MT polysilicon plant which is expected to offer peak production around mid 2009. Construction of the 15K MT polysilicon plant remains on schedule and is … Read the rest