TAN - Guggenheim Solar ETF Update
After SunTech Power's downfall the Solar ETF TAN needs a chart update:
The trend still looks negative but look for some support around the 15/16 dollar mark.
Labels: ETF, solar ETF, Solar Stocks, TAN
Suntech Power Announces Default
Yesterday, Suntech announced that it has defaulted on its 3 percent convertible notes.
According to
Bloomberg (
citing Moody's), "No company has defaulted on publicly traded debt in China since the central bank began regulating the market in the late 1990s."
Suntech was the world's largest manufacturer of solar modules in 2011.
Labels: Default, solar panels, Solar Technology, STP, Suntech Power
Suntech Power Holdings (STP)
Suntech Power Holdings is having a wild ride in these last days.
Now up 28%, investors are still confused if Suntech will go into default, be saved by the China Government or neither of them.
Meanwhile the stock looks way too risky for any overnight trades.
The news reports have bondholders forcing the company into an involuntary bankruptcy tomorrow if the company doesn't pay back $541 million in bonds.
Two advisers of Chinese government agencies stated that the country would not do anything to save the once-largest solar panel manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings from its creditors since the company requires economizing along with the rest of the industry.
Maybe next week we can get a hold of what the future holds for STP.
Labels: Solar Stocks, STP, Suntech Power
Suntech, Acquired, Now Officially a State-Owned Entity
After this news, Sun Tech Power (STP) is now trading 26% lower.
"
Any pretense of Suntech (NYSE: STP) being an independent entity is over.
China's Suntech, faced with a debt crisis and with the fate of thousands of employees' jobs hanging in the balance, "is poised to be taken over partly or entirely by the municipal government's holding company in its hometown, Wuxi, China," according to
reports in the
New York Times after a confirmation from a Wuxi official on Wednesday.
Suntech was the world's largest manufacturer of solar modules in 2011. But it now has cash issues and bond obligations of more than $500 million coming due. In July 2012, Suntech's business partner, Global Solar Fund (GSF), faked $680 million in collateral for a loan backed by Suntech."
Labels: Solar Stocks, STP, Suntech Power
What Will the Solar PV Market Look Like in 2016?
A nice article on Green Tech Media today, predicting the changes in the next 3 years of the Solar Photovoltaic Market:
"
Four years is a long time in the solar industry. Think about what's happened in the U.S. industry since 2009: We've seen a recession, a massive boom in federal spending, a precipitous drop in solar module prices, a wave of bankruptcies, a nasty trade battle with China, a slowdown in utility-scale projects, a strong gain in residential projects, and a now a massive retraction in federal spending. Amidst it all, solar installations continue to grow."
Continue Reading
Energy Project See Solar as Easier Than Wind
“The solar comes a bit easier,” said multinational energy giant Macquarie Group’s (NYSE:MIC)
Managing Director Thomas Houle at the Texas Renewable Energy Industry Association (TREIA) Renewable Energy Finance Forum. “But it does present unique challenges. One is land rights and producing a clean title.”
In markets where developers are unfamiliar with commercial and utility-scale solar, he said, “there can be a view that issues like mineral rights will sort themselves out. But when you get to financing, there is nothing more important than having a clean title and good title insurance.”.
With a wind project, it is less crucial, he said, “because you are not covering the vast majority of the land area with equipment. You’re only using 2 percent to 5 percent of your land area for all the roads and foundations and the rest.”
Source:
Green Tech MediaLabels: Solar Energy, wind energy
3D Printing self-assembling solar panels
New research towards low cost 3d Printing of thin film solar panels.
Scientists from Imperial College London, working at the Institut Laue-Langevin, have presented a new way of positioning nanoparticles in plastics, with important applications in the production of photovoltaic material.
This will result in more low-cost tools for 3D printing of self-assembling, thin-film circuits.
Read more at:
Nano Tech StocksLabels: 3d printing, Nano Solar, Solar Energy, Thin film solar cells
Solar Energy in every new home in California City
Mayor Rex Parris from Lancaster, California announced his city will institute a first-of-its-kind requirement that solar be installed on every new single-family home built in Lancaster after January 1, 2014.
“The purpose of the solar energy system standards, is to encourage investment in solar energy on all parcels in the city, while providing guidelines for the installation of those systems that are consistent with the architectural and building standards of the City.”
Residential homes on lots from 7,000 square feet must have a solar system of 1.0 kilowatt to 1.5 kilowatts. Rural residential homes of up to 100,000 square feet must have a system of at least 1.5 kilowatts.
SourceLabels: Alternative Energy, home solar panels, Solar Technology
First Solar sets new record for solar cell efficiency
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) announced this week it has set a new world record for cadmium-telluride photovoltaic solar cell conversion efficiency. According to the company, its cell reached 18.7 percent cell efficiency in tests confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The cell was constructed at the company’s Perrysburg, Ohio factory and research and development center using processes and materials, including the glass substrate, designed for commercial-scale manufacturing.
First Solar Chief Technology Officer Raffi Garabedian said the technologies and processes the company developed for the record-setting cell will “further enhance the performance of our future production modules and power plants.”
First Solar Upgraded (FSLR)
First Solar (Nasdaq:FSLR) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.
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Read more at
thestreet.comLabels: First Solar, FSLR
