solar power
Right now we’re seeing a glut of solar panels in the market largely due to an increase in Chinese manufacturers being able to produce panels a lot faster and cheaper than their more established European counterparts thanks to a flood of local Chinese investment in the industry.
Shares of rooftop solar technology and products company Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) (market cap $82 million) recovered slightly in early today after falling more than 14% Tuesday on huge losses in its Q3 2011 ended March 31, 2011, including a massive write-down of assets whose values have dropped in the face of declining sales. The company’s shares have fallen more than 66% in 2011 as the company has battled deteriorating sales, particularly in key markets France and Italy where governments have reduced solar power adoption incentives.
Solar Trust of America, a U.S. joint venture of German-based companies Solar Millennium AG (XETRA: S2M.DE) and Ferrostaal AG, said today it will form a joint venture with German-based SolarHybrid AG to develop, build and manage utility-scale solar projects in North America.
Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), which announced last week it had agreed to be purchased by Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) in a share swap worth $7.9 billion, said Monday it acquired a 30-megawatt (MW) solar generation project in Sacramento, California., from utility-grade photovoltaic (PV) power plant developer Belectric, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), one of the largest power generators in the U.S. and the leading producer of power from wind and solar projects, released its Q1 2011 financial results Friday and said it had signed long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for an additional 400 megawatts (MW) of wind power since the beginning of 2011. At the end of 2010, NextEra had nearly 43,000 MW of generating capacity (approximately 53% natural gas, 19% wind, 13% nuclear, 13% oil and coal, and 2% hydro and solar), according to the company’s regulatory filings.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and SunEdison LLC, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), said today Wells Fargo subsidiaries will invest up to $120 million to fund U.S. solar photovoltaic distributed generation power projects developed by SunEdison over the next year. The program builds on a SunEdison solar investment fund established in 2007 in which Wells Fargo invested more than $200 million in approximately 150 solar projects developed by SunEdison in eight states.
San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) said Tuesday it has signed a 20-year contract for up to 156 megawatts (MW) from the first phase of Sempra Generation’s Energía Sierra Juárez wind project in Baja California, Mexico. Both SDG&E and Sempra Generation are subsidiaries of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE).
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) subsidiary SunEdison LLC said today the Ontario Power Authority has confirmed that the company has met the 60% domestic content requirements of the Ontario feed-in-tariff (FIT) program for solar projects. This means the company’s solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, to be manufactured at a new facility in Newmarket, Ontario beginning in Q2 2011, will be accepted in FIT projects in the province.
BrightSource Energy, Inc. said Monday it has finalized U.S. federal government loan guarantees of $1.6 billion and has received a $168 million equity investment from Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) for its proposed 392-megawatt (MW) Ivanpah thermal solar power project under construction in California’s Mohave Desert.
Shares of French-based renewable energy company EDF Energies Nouvelles S.A. (Paris: EEN.PA) closed up 10% today after French state-controlled power giant Electricite de France SA (Paris: EDF.PA) announced on Friday it will launch a €1.5 billion offer for the 50% of EDF Energies Nouvelles it does not hold. Electricite de France will offer €40 a share in cash or 13 EDF shares for 11 EDF Energies Nouvelles shares. (€1 = $1.44 April 11)
