Solar

by James Montgomery 2014 is predicted to be a breakout year for solar financing, as the industry eagerly pursues finance innovations. Many of these methods aren't really new to other industries, but they are potentially game-changing when applied in the solar industry.

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.

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.

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)...

New York will dramatically boost its reliance on renewable energy sources like wind and water over the next nine years under a policy approved by state regulators Wednesday. Clean energy advocates and state officials said the action by the state Public Service Commission places New York among the leaders nationwide in the development of renewable energy. It comes 20 months after Gov. George Pataki first called for a statewide standard that would encourage the production of environmentally friendly energy.

Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) has been designated to receive an additional $2.5 million in Federal grant funding during 2006-2007 for the continued development of nanotechnology, nanosensors, and nanomaterials research, development and deployment. The $2.5 million funding was included in the Congressional Energy and Water Development Appropriation for Fiscal Year 2006, which was passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2005. We anticipate the appropriation will be signed by the President within the next week. ALTI had a nice 10% jump in the price yesterday on this news.

Subject line The recent announcement on June 2, 2008 , that Robert Bosche GmbH (privately-held) plans to buy German-based Ersol Solar Energy AG (FRA:ES6) provides another example of how global industrial conglomerates are carefully watching for opportunities in the fast-growing solar sector.   Bosch bought a majority stake in Ersol for 546 million euros from Ventizz Capital Partners at a 63% premium to Ersol’s closing price on May 30.  Bosch plans to make a public tender offer for the remaining 50.45% of the company, according to...

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%...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced the signing of an agreement to install a solar electric power system on the campus of Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona. The project involves the installation of the photovoltaic system on the roof of a new building that houses faculty offices and academic space. The project is a collaborative effort between WorldWater & Power Corp. and Eastern Energy Services of Southampton, N.J. WorldWater & Power will provide engineering, materials and equipment required to complete the project in accordance with the proposal.

EMCORE Corp. (EMKR) announced that it has signed a subcontract to participate in the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHSEC) program to more than double the efficiency of terrestrial solar cells within the next 50 months. EMCORE's Photovoltaic division was selected by the University of Delaware, the prime contractor for the DARPA VHSEC program, to develop advanced III-V multi-junction solar cells in Phase I of the program effort. In later phases, EMCORE expects to develop a technology roadmap for enabling significantly lower fabrication costs for the very high efficiency solar cells.

Steve Leone Germany's Q-Cells, a solar industry giant that helped usher in a new era of solar energy, announced Monday that it will file for bankruptcy, but that it will continue to work to restructure. In a statement released by the company, “the Executive Board and the preliminary insolvency administrator will work together to secure the continuity of the company within the insolvency proceedings.” The move follows an unrelated higher court ruling on Friday that Q-Cells says limits its ability to move ahead with a debt restructuring plan. The filing is the most prominent to date in...

SunPower Corporation (SPWR) announced its largest ever product supply contract. The supply agreement with PowerLight Corp., a global solar systems provider, calls for the delivery of $330 million of solar panels from 2005 through 2009. SunPower's industry-leading products will be incorporated into PowerLight's advanced solar power systems for commercial, government and new home residential customers worldwide. SunPower is trading up over 6% today on the news.

Charles Morand One of the - if not THE - most popular debates in solar PV circles is about when exactly the electricity produced by solar PV systems will reach "grid-parity", or become competitive with like-generation fuels (i.e. non-baseload) on a stand-alone basis (i.e. no feed-in tariffs, mandates or rebates). A lot of the time, these discussions slip into arcane sub-debates about module costs, as expressed on a dollar per watt basis, and how far they need to fall for solar PV to be competitive. But module costs are only one part...

Universal Communication Systems Inc (UCSY) announced that the company will launch its new complete range of Patented PV Solar Chargers for the consumer electronics market in May. The new products are all fitted with new exclusively developed "Battery On Board" (BOB) technology, enabling the consumer to apply "charging" to his/her electronic device 24 hours per day, all year round. The entire range of our products is designed to operate both in sunlight, and indoors.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) opened up trading this morning with a gap down to the $33 level. For the last hour it has been steadily rising up from this point. As I said in my earlier post, I have been looking for a good entry point in this company and feel that the near term support of $33 is an ideal area to place an order. The stock has been on a run for several months and it is always hard to take a new position in a stock that has already seen dramatic increases...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) announced that it has signed a $1,145,800 contract to build and install a solar electric power generation system for Quality Embroidery in Los Angeles, California. The photovoltaic (PV) system will provide electricity for the company, and is expected to substantially reduce electrical usage costs for the facility. With the signing of this contract, on top of its earlier announced 2005 contract backlog of $23 million, the Company issued Revenue Guidance for 2006, projecting Revenue of $25 million to $35 million. I have tracked World Water for a while and I recently received a...