Trina Solar profit tops Wall Street, shares climb

Earnings per ADS 74 cents tops Wall St view of 60 cents

* Revenues rose 45 pct to $313 mln

* Shares climb 3.4 percent premarket

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - China-based Trina Solar Ltd (TSL.N) reported higher-than-expected fourth quarter profit and said its margins widened even as the industry continued to see weaker selling prices for solar modules.

A glut of solar cells and modules pressured prices by about 40 percent last year, but a recent rebound in demand ahead of expected subsidy cuts in Germany has boosted sales for many producers of the renewable energy systems.

Net income rose to $49.2 million, or 74 cents per American Depositary Share, versus a loss of $673,000, or 1 cent per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

That easily topped the 60 cents per share that analysts had on average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 45 percent to $313.3 million, beating analysts' forecast for $284 million.

Gross margins climbed to 32.6 percent, topping Trina's forecast of 25 percent to 27 percent.

Labels: Earnings, Solar Stocks, Trina Solar, TSL

posted by Ertai at 12:19 PM | 0 comment(s)

Top 10 Fastest-Growing Solar Stocks: SOLR, FSLR, YGE, RSOL, SOL, STP, ENER, SPWRA, JASO, TSL

Labels: FSLR, RSOL, SOL, Solar Stocks, SOLR, STP, YGE

posted by Ertai at 3:23 PM | 1 comment(s)

First Solar Earnings

First Solar (FSLR) is trading lower after hours despite better-than-consensus Q4 results.

FSL reported Q4 revenue of $641.3 million, up from $408.9 million in Q3 and $433.7 million a year ago, and ahead of the Street at $581.4 million. EPS of $1.65 a share was ahead of the Street at $1.52.

The company repeated its previous guidance for 2010: revenue of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion, with EPS of $6.06 to $6.85 a share. The company expects cap ex this year of $500 million to $550 million.

In a presentation prepared for this afternoon’s conference call with the Street, the company said global supply will likely exceed demand in the second half of the year, and that silicon module pricing is likely to decline further in the second half.

Labels: Earnings, First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Stocks

posted by Ertai at 10:42 PM | 0 comment(s)

First Solar Sets Date to Report Fourth Quarter Results

Labels: Earnings, First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Stocks

posted by Ertai at 9:21 AM | 0 comment(s)

Solar Energy Harvesting Using 1 Percent Of Current Materials

Imagine a world where sunlight can be captured to produce electricity anywhere, on any surface. The makers of thin-film flexible solar cells imagine that world too. But a big problem has been the amount of silicon needed to harvest a little sunshine.

Now, researchers [led by Harry A. Atwater] at Caltech say they’ve designed a device that gets comparable solar absorption while using just one percent of the silicon per unit area that current solar cells need. The work was published in the journal Nature Materials.

The research team tried silicon wire arrays instead of traditional silicon panels. These wires have been shown to do a good job converting sunlight to usable energy on the nanoscale. But the scientists had to create wires a thousand times longer.

Light bounces around within the wires and is eventually absorbed when it hits at the correct angle. But there was a problem: too much light was leaking out. Adding nanoparticles of alumina kept much more of the light scattering until it got absorbed. The result is a system that virtually matches silicon wafer light absorption and may be more efficient at converting light to electricity, while using a tiny fraction of the material.—Cynthia Graber

Labels: nanotech, nanowires, Solar power technologies, Solar Stocks, Solar Technology

posted by Ertai at 11:09 AM | 0 comment(s)

MiaSole aims to match First Solar's cost

Solar thin-film start-up MiaSole is aiming to be a viable competitor to industry leader First Solar (FSLR.O) by lowering manufacturing costs of its panels as it ramps up production and opens a new U.S. plant.

MiaSole's current manufacturing costs are over $1 per watt, said Chief Executive Joseph Laia Jr.

First Solar, one of the world's largest solar module makers, has the lowest production costs in the industry for its thin film cadmium telluride panels. The company broke $1 per watt in 2008 and reached 85 cents per watt in 2009.

While Laia declined to reveal MiaSole's exact manufacturing cost per watt, he said getting the cost down would be a major focus of the company this year.

"Can we get close to those guys (First Solar)? Yes," Laia told Reuters this week. "By the end of the year, we will be pretty close to them in costs."

Labels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, miasole, Solar Energy, Solar Stocks

posted by Ertai at 10:00 AM | 0 comment(s)

Trina Solar Announces New Technology to Boost Conversion Efficiency

Trina Solar Limited (TSL) ("Trina Solar" or the "Company"), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, today announced it achieved a breakthrough in its development of monocrystalline cell technology.
As part of the Company's ongoing research and development strategy, Trina Solar has developed a square monocrystalline cell with enhanced power output using its proprietary improved cell manufacturing process. Using specially designed metallization and passivation techniques, the advanced cell structure is expected to significantly boost cell conversion efficiency, achieving up to 18.8% efficiency in test laboratory production. In addition, this technology is expected to improve module output due to increased light absorbing surface area of the square shaped cell.
"We are excited to announce this breakthrough in monocrystalline cell efficiency, which demonstrates the competence of our R&D team and the centrality of product development at Trina Solar," said Jifan Gao, Trina Solar's Chairman and CEO. "Trina Solar will continue to advance its extensive R&D program, aiming to develop solar cell conversion efficiencies of more than 20% over the coming two years."

Labels: solar cells, solar efficiency, Solar Energy, Solar Stocks, Solar Technology, Trina Solar, TSL

posted by Ertai at 10:49 AM | 0 comment(s)

Evergreen Solar Ships 31.9 Megawatts

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (ESLR), a manufacturer of String Ribbon™ solar power products with its proprietary, low-cost silicon wafer technology, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Key accomplishments during the quarter were:

Shipped 31.9 MW from our Devens facility at an average selling price of $2.32 per watt;
Improved product gross margins to 11.9% from 7.1% for the third quarter of 2009;
Reduced total manufacturing cost to $2.05 per watt, down 8.5% from $2.24 per watt for the third quarter of 2009;
Reduced wafer manufacturing cost to approximately $0.69 per watt from $0.75 per watt in the third quarter of 2009;
Generated $16.9 million of cash from operations, up from $11.2 million in the third quarter.
“Over two years ago, we established a cost target for our Devens facility of about two dollars per watt. We are pleased to have effectively achieved this cost target during the fourth quarter,” stated Richard M. Feldt, Chairman, CEO and President. “Our proven track record of manufacturing excellence is even more critical as we will relentlessly pursue additional operational efficiencies, further reduce our silicon and other materials costs and make progress on our technology roadmap to further reduce our costs at Devens to about $1.50 per watt in 2011 as we transition panel assembly to China.”

“Our China expansion remains on track,” added Mr. Feldt. “We have a strong Chinese management team and we are hiring experienced engineers and other support staff needed for the initial 100 megawatt facility. Equipment has been ordered, and we should be in a good position to ship our first product by this summer.”

Labels: Earnings, ESLR, Evergreen Solar, Solar Stocks

posted by Ertai at 9:17 AM | 0 comment(s)

Deutsche Bank Cuts Estimates, Target (FSLR)

Deutsche Bank analyst Steve O’Rourke this morning repeated his Hold rating on First Solar (FSLR), while cutting his EPS estimates and price target.

For 2010, his EPS estimate drops to $6.02, from $6.53. His price target is now $125, down from $135.

O’Rourke writes in a research note that the moves reflect his view that the 2010 second half will be more difficult than many on the Street have modeled. While he thinks the company has “the strongest company fundamentals in the industry,” he also thinks it faces both pricing pressure and margin compression.

FSLR is down $2.70, or 2.4%, to $111.49.

Labels: Earnings, First Solar Inc, FSLR

posted by Ertai at 10:03 AM | 0 comment(s)

Earnings Release Dates

Labels: Canadian Solar Inc., CSIQ, Earnings, First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Stocks, STP, Suntech Power

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Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP) Overweight Rating

Labels: solar analysis, Solar Stocks, STP, Suntech Power

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Market Concerns

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posted by Ertai at 11:59 AM | 0 comment(s)

GT Solar Profit Falls 15% But Tops Street View

GT Solar International Inc.'s (SOLR) fiscal third-quarter profit fell 15% but easily topped Wall Street expectations as the solar-wafer maker saw increased business from key customers in Asia.

The results led the company to say it now expects its results for the year to be at the top end of its previous guidance, which was for earnings of 52 cents to 60 cents a share on revenue of $500 million to $550 million.

The stock soared 13% to $6.80 in after-hours trading on the news. The stock has doubled in the past year.

GT Solar reported earnings of $36.8 million, or 25 cents a share, down from $43.1 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 15% to $173.6 million, but the figure surged 67% from the fiscal second quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $145 million.

Gross margin widened to 44.2% from 43.6% a year earlier and 32.9% in the previous quarter.

Labels: Earnings, GT Solar International Inc., Solar Stocks, SOLR

posted by Ertai at 9:28 AM | 0 comment(s)

Silicon Valley makes big push into solar and smart-grid technologies

Cleantech's vast ecosystem includes a dizzying array of emerging technologies, from green building materials to electric vehicles, lighting and wind power. But as Silicon Valley reinvents itself as a global center of clean technology, two sectors — solar power and "smart" upgrades to the electric grid — already are reshaping the valley and changing the way energy is produced and used.
The Bay Area is believed to have the nation's largest concentration of cleantech jobs, and much of that job growth has been in solar and smart grid, technologies that leverage the valley's formidable strengths. Next 10, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates that the Bay Area now has about 7,000 jobs in renewable energy alone.
"The skills that have been put to such good use in the valley with chips — engineering the processes to be more efficient, bringing costs down — are now being applied to solar," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who wants to create 25,000 new cleantech jobs and cut the city's per capita energy use in half by 2022. "And in order to make a smart grid smart, you've got to collect an enormous amount of information and manage it and network it. It's a huge market opportunity for what companies here are already doing."

Labels: Solar News, Solar Stocks, Solar Technology

posted by Ertai at 1:32 PM | 0 comment(s)