$$$ First Solar, die amerikanische Q-Cells $$$
Wie im Leben----der Stärkere setzt sich durch und der Kleine/Schwache bleibt auf der Strecke!
Ich habe die Hoffnung noch nicht aufgegeben, daß der Aktienkurs auch mal in die andere Richtung steigt...fragt sich nur wann und wie weit ich dann schon im Minus bin!! :-(
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), and First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSLR) today announced the completion of NextEra Energy Resources' acquisition of two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 40 megawatts (AC) in Ontario, Canada from First Solar.
The projects, located in St. Clair, were designed, developed and constructed by First Solar, using its advanced thin film PV modules, and began commercial operation in February, 2012. The two projects are owned and operated by subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources' Canadian subsidiary, NextEra Energy Canada, ULC, and provide enough power to serve about 6,440 homes. Each year the solar generation is expected to help avoid nearly 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of removing nearly 8,600 cars from the road every year for the life of the projects. The power is being sold to the Ontario Power Authority via long-term contracts under its Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP).
"We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of our initial Canadian solar projects. This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to add fully contracted renewable assets to our portfolio," said NextEra Energy Resources' Senior Vice President of Development Mike O'Sullivan. "Solar power will help promote a clean-energy economy in Ontario and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels."
"The completion of the St. Clair projects helps Ontario meet its economic and renewable energy goals," said Peter Carrie, First Solar Vice President for Business Development, Canada. "The projects employed 800 construction workers, including local First Nations workers, and are the first large-scale solar facilities permitted under the Province's Renewable Energy Approval process."
Source: Business Wire
Good Luck!
Die Ausrüstung kann gewinnen Creeks Hilfe Solar-Makers Kosten senken, sagt Geschäftsführer
Von Andrew Herndon am 13. März 2012
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Twin Creeks Technologies Inc., ein streng gehütetes Hersteller von Solar-Produktionsanlagen, Maschinen hat, die um 90 Prozent senken können den Betrag von Silizium benötigt, um Platten zu machen entwickelt, die Erhöhung der Margen der Erzeuger, der nach seinen Chief Executive Officer.
Das Unternehmen produziert Silizium-Wafern Ausrüstung, die ein Zehntel der Dicke der herkömmlichen, was die Kosten senkt, weil mehr Produkte mit weniger Material hergestellt werden, sagte CEO Siva Sivaram in einem Interview in San Francisco.
Maschinen des Unternehmens und seiner Prozesse für den Umgang mit extra-dünne Wafer, könnte den Herstellern die Möglichkeit, die Margen nach einem globalen Überangebot verursacht Solarpanel Preise um 50 Prozent fallen, im vergangenen Jahr zu steigern, sagte Sivaram. Der Preisverfall hat Solyndra LLC in den Konkurs getrieben, aufgefordert SunPower Corp, ein Buyout-und reduzierten Margen der Hersteller von Suntech Power Holdings Co. und First Solar Inc. (FSLR) führte zu suchen
Twin Creeks rechnet damit, in der Solar-Fertigung ähnlich wie Effizienzsteigerungen in der Produktion von Speicherchips Margen in dieser Branche zu verbessern bewahrt haben, nach Sivaram. "In der Speicher-Industrie Jahr für Jahr für Jahr der Preis um 50 Prozent sinkt, aber jeder macht immer noch Geld, und die Leute, die meisten machen sind die Geräte Jungs", sagte er.
"Was wir getan haben, ist die Schwäche gelegen, es Materialien fokussiert ist, und ein völlig disruptive Technologie", sagte Sivaram.
Die firmeneigene Maschine, die so genannte Hyperion, entfällt die Notwendigkeit für 52 Teile der Ausrüstung in der Regel erforderlich, um Waffeln zu machen, sagte er. "Tötet die ganze Sache und ersetzen Sie es mit Hyperion", sagte Sivaram. "Das ist wirklich das, was wir tun wollen."
Wasserstoff-Ionen
Hyperions verwenden eine Technologie Twin Creeks ruft "Proton induzierte Peeling", um Wasserstoff-Ionen mit hoher Spannung zu injizieren zu Wafern. Die Protonen erzeugen "Mikrorisse", die dünne Schichten abblättern bei ungefähr 20 Mikrometern (0,02 Millimeter) dick ist, wenn die Wafer später in einem Ofen erhitzt werden, wobei Sivaram. Typische Wafer sind etwa zehnmal so dick, sagte er.
Hyperion könnte die Kosten eines typischen 1-Gigawatt-Zell-Produktionslinie zu halbieren, auch wenn sie "teuer", sagte er, ohne den genauen Verkaufspreis.
Jedes Hyperion kann über 6 Megawatt von Wafern produzieren, so etwa 16 Maschinen würde bei einer 100-Megawatt-Produktionslinie benötigt werden, sagte er.
Panels von Twin Creeks "Wafern hergestellt haben ähnliche Macht-Wirkungsgrade von konventionellen obwohl sie dünn genug zu sein wie Dünnschicht-Produkten von Unternehmen wie MiaSole Inc. und SoloPower Inc., die aus anderen Materialien als Silizium verwenden, flexibel gestaltet sind, nach Sivaram.
"Was du hast, ist das weltweit erste flexible Einkristall-Silizium", sagte er. Die Flexibilität der Wafer senkt die Kosten weiter, weil biegbar Verpackung für Zellen und Module, anstelle von Glas oder Aluminium verwendet werden können, sagte Twin Creeks heute in einer Erklärung.
Venture Capital
Twin Creeks, in San Jose, Kalifornien, von etwa $ 93 Millionen Venture Capital von Crosslink Capital Inc., Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures LLC, Artis Capital Management LP und in Taiwan ansässige Global Strategic Investment Fund gesichert, sagte Sivaram.
Das Unternehmen schloss ein Werk in Mississippi Mai 2011, dass "wird als Arbeitssprache Labor für alle unsere Kunden gedacht", sagte Sivaram.
Die Website verfügt über zwei Hyperion Maschinen und eine Produktionslinie der Lage, 25 Megawatt Solarzellen pro Jahr. Es gibt Raum, um auf 100 Megawatt pro Jahr zu erweitern, wenn ein Partner gewählt, dies zu tun, sagte Sivaram.
Seit der Gründung des Unternehmens im Jahr 2008 hat es auf die Bereitstellung von Investitionsgütern anstatt Panels neu ausgerichtet.
"Ich verkaufe Investitionsgüter", sagte Sivaram. "Ich habe in der Lage sein es zu jeder Zelle und Panel-Hersteller in der Welt verkaufen wollen, so bin ich nicht derjenige Auslegen der letzten Pfennig auf die Marge und der Kampf für Panel-und Zell-Preis", sagte er.
Um die Reporter zu dieser Geschichte an: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco bei aherndon2@bloomberg.net
Zur Kontaktaufnahme mit dem Herausgeber verantwortlich für diese Geschichte: Reed Landberg am landberg@bloomberg.net
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March 13, 2012 |Comments: 0
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FSLR | NRG
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) has entered into an agreement with NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) under which the former will build a 26 megawatt (“AC”) Avra Valley solar project for the latter. Under a 20-year power purchase agreement, the electricity generated from the project will be sold to Tucson Electric Power.
Located near Tucson, Arizona, the solar project will utilize First Solar’s advanced thin-film photovoltaic technology, mounted on the company’s single-axis tracker system, which rotates the solar modules to follow the sun throughout the day. The single-axis tracker system has the capability to extend the peak energy production period and provide more electricity when energy demand is greatest i.e. in the afternoon.
The company expects the construction to begin in March 2012 and complete by the end of 2012 and will likely create 200 jobs.
This is not the first project for which First Solar and NRG Energy have come together. Earlier, they had also worked together on several plants, starting with a 20-megawatt solar plant in Blythe, California. Also, in another deal, NRG had purchased the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente project from First Solar.
First Solar designs and manufactures solar modules using a proprietary thin-film-semiconductor technology, which allows it to reduce its average solar module manufacturing costs to one of the lowest in the world. However, along with its solar peers, the company is witnessing an oversupply of photovoltaic products leading to a steep drop in average selling prices.
The company sells its products to project developers, system integrators, and operators of renewable energy projects primarily in Europe with a distinct focus on Germany. Thus, the current macro scenario does not bode well for the solar industry, which thrives mainly on subsidies and grants. A volatile euro, apprehension over a reduction in European solar subsidies and falling crystalline silicon prices are a matter of nagging concern.
The company presently retains a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold). We have a long-term Underperform recommendation on the stock.
Read the full analyst report on FSLR
Read the full analyst report on NRG
Solar installers built 1,855 megawatts of photovoltaic projects in 2011 for a total of $8.4 billion, up from 887 MW in 2010, according to a report released by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
The growth in U.S. demand comes as the makers of the panels that turn light into electricity have struggled to earn profits amid a glut of supplies on the global market that eroded margins.
The WilderHill Clean Energy Index .ECO, which includes shares of industry heavyweights First Solar (FSLR.O), Suntech Power Holdings (STP.N), Yingli Green Energy (YGE.N) and Trina Solar (TSL.N), tumbled 49 percent in 2011. So far this year it has rebounded about 12 percent.
A record level of fourth quarter installations totaling 776 MW easily beat the peak of 473 MW recorded in the third quarter of the year.
"The U.S. was a strong market in 2011 and we expect it to be strong again in 2012," said GTM Managing Director Shayle Kann.
Many industry analysts had reduced their forecasts last year to between 1,500 to 1,700 megawatts as incentives waned in the country's two biggest markets, California and New Jersey.
For 2012, GTM and SEIA said new construction would grow 35 to 50 percent, reaching 2,500 to 2,800 MW, as a backlog of large projects is completed.
The 2011 figures rank the United States as the fourth largest solar market in the world behind Germany, Italy and China, according to Kann.
The U.S. share of the global market was only about 7 percent last year, he said, but that share should double by 2016 as U.S. demand continues to grow and European demand starts to decline.
The large, utility-scale projects, which produce power for the wholesale electricity market, totaled 758 MW of the 2011 total. That is about the size of one natural gas-fired power plant.
Another 3,000 MW of utility-scale plants are currently under construction in the United States, and 6,000 MW is at an earlier stage of development, the report said.
Among those projects under construction are two 550-MW projects being built by First Solar and a 250-MW plant being built by SunPower Corp SPRW.O, which are among the largest in the world.
Installations on homes rose 11 percent in 2011 to 297 MW, while panels installed at non-residential sites rose 28 percent to 800 MW.
Despite declining prices for solar panels in recent years, the sector still relies on government subsidies to make the power projects competitive with coal and natural gas.
The average installed cost for solar declined by 20 percent last year to $4.08 per watt, largely because of reductions in costs for the largest plants, which saw costs drop to $3.20 per watt in the fourth quarter.
That overall decline did not fully reflect last year's 50 percent drop in wholesale panel prices, since most of the 2011 project costs were before that steep decline.
The 2011 panel price drop is likely to begin showing up in projects that will come on line later this year.
(Reporting By Matt Daily; Editing by Bernard Orr)
3/14/2012 8:00:00 AM - Article #24933
TEMPE, Ariz.--First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) has announced its 100 percent stake in Maryland Solar, a 20-megawatt (AC) photovoltaic (PV) solar power project in Hagerstown, Md.
“First Solar is pleased to continue its work in Maryland to help the state meet its renewable energy goals”
The project, which has a contract to sell electricity and renewable energy credits to FirstEnergy Solutions, is expected to start construction in Q2 2012 and be completed in Q4 2012. It will use First Solar's advanced thin film PV modules to generate enough clean, renewable energy to power approximately 2,700 average Maryland homes, displacing approximately 23,000 metric tons of CO2 annually—the equivalent of taking 4,400 cars off the road each year.
“First Solar is pleased to continue its work in Maryland to help the state meet its renewable energy goals,” said Frank De Rosa, First Solar Senior Vice President for business development — the Americas. “We are excited about moving forward on this project, which is expected to provide 125 construction jobs.”
About First Solar, Inc.
First Solar manufactures solar modules with an advanced semiconductor technology, and is a premier provider of comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) system solutions. The company is delivering an economically viable alternative to fossil-fuel generation today. From raw material sourcing through end-of-life collection and recycling, First Solar is focused on creating value-driven renewable energy solutions that protect and enhance the environment. For more information about First Solar, please visit www.firstsolar.com.
First Solar: Buy When Blood's In The Street And Fade Everything Else
March 15, 2012 | 4 comments |
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Ich denke die Installation des neuen CCO ist eine wichtige Sache.Vermutlich legt FS damit wichtige Grundsteine, vor allem um auch außerhalb der USA schneller voran zu kommen. Hughes ist wohl genau der richtige Mann!
Langsam häufen sich wieder eher die guten Nachrichten ...... allerdings scheint die Strafzoll-Geschichte erneut verschoben zu sein. 19 Mai, wenn ich richtig gelesen habe.
Mir kam auch so ein wenig der Gedanke, ob FS in den letzten Wochen nicht mit übertrieben negativer Berichterstattung und extremen Leerverkäufen für eine Übernahme sturmreif geschossen wurde.
MK liegt wohl so bei 65% des Buchwerts. Da kann es bei fundierten Übernahmegerüchten wohl auch mal ganz schnell nach oben gehen. Ich habe nich jedenfalls massiv aufgestellt und der Shortsqueeze kann kommen!
March 19, 2012 | includes: CSIQ, CSUN, FSLR, HSOL, JKS, LDK, SOL, SPWR, STP, TSL, WFR, YGE
The earnings season continued last week with four Chinese companies. On March 15th, Hanwha SolarOne (HSOL) and GCL Poly reported their results. Hanwha executed three sets of financial adjustments, in the same form as other businesses reporting this quarter. Inventory write-down, provisions for long-term contracts and goodwill impairment totaled around $95M. The company shipped 189.1MW for the quarter and 844.4MW for the year, achieving over $1B in revenues for the full year. Due to the depressed margins, the loss for the fiscal year was at $147M, or $1.76 per share. Hanwha presented a carbon copy of operational cost objectives already seen in other presentations. Unfortunately, the company's cost has been related much more to the performance of Suntech (STP) and stood at $0.74 for non-polysilicon cost in Q4, versus a lot leaner results from the class of Trina (TSL), Yingli (YGE) and Jinko (JKS). Despite the favorable cost of $42 per kg, and an average of around $.24/watt, Hanwha's low 60% or so utilization added another $0.08 per watt to the bottom line, with the in-house cost using internal wafers and cells ending at $1.03 per watt. An even less helpful outcome came after the external source product blend hit $1.16, dubbing Hanwha the most expensive Chinese manufacturer of the quarter. Despite this extreme outcome, Hanwha sees the future at $0.55 to $0.60 per watt on non-poly cost by Q4, expecting (or hoping) to stay with the pack of other manufacturers.
The road to cost reductions, as per Hanwha, rests in the optimization of silver paste, increased module output and conversion of cells in a similar fashion to other makers, to over 17% in multi and over 18% in monocrystalline cells. At the conference, the management revealed even more detail on cost, with processing wafers at $0.11 per watt, cells at $0.18, and module, at what sounded pricey below $.30 per watt. While the last figure hints at high costs for module assembly, wafer processing seems incredibly well optimized, particularly for an operator with limited 800MW worth capacity being able to closely challenge the processing cost of the most efficient wafer maker, GCL, and beating outright that of Renesola (SOL). In defense of Renesola, a blend of quasi-mono and mono processing, as essentially Renesola has no traditional multicrystalline product left, will be naturally more expensive.
Development of solar plants has become a silver bullet solution to combat negative gross margins, and as have others before, Hanwha envisioned moving itself into a downstream. To put words into action, on March 16th, S.A.G. Solarstrom and Hanwha SolarOne formed a joint venture to put Hanwha's modules on roofs in Italy in the amount of 20MW, with a further 20MW for future developments. Hanwha took an 85% share of the new entity. The move to solar distribution and plant development may put soon yesterday's suppliers against the likes of IBC, Solarhybrid and Juwi, as the direct competition. While majorities of large businesses, like Yingli or Suntech, are eyeing China for this type of growth, in a place where business is mostly local, Canadian is openly talking about USA, Japan and Europe, with Sunergy chatting on India, USA and Australia. Certainly at some point those companies will be crossing paths with some of the segment's players. Development of solar plants may become a second battlefield for China's objective to dominate the industry, and without an alternative source of quality supply, current developers may be experiencing increased pressure, which will lend itself to closer relations and joint ventures like the one between Hanwha and Solarstrom at one end, or bankruptcies further extending into this sector on the other.
In summary, Hanwha delivered little excitement with another quarter of quoting the need for improvement, but leaving the audience wanting more concrete delivery. There was very little confirmation on synergies with Hanwha Chem, the parent company. Outside of 100MW of consideration for the company's modules, and undetermined financial support, Hanwha parent seems to be in limbo mode, which does not put a lot of confidence in SolarOne for 2012, in addition to a weak forecast with 1GW of sales, or 18% growth. The fairly low debt level is probably one of the few attractive aspects left in the company, which makes very little difference to industry, which measures its progress and leadership in a few pennies per watt and sorts winners from losers by using this spread.
In China, the largest world producer of polysilicon and wafers at 65,000MT and 8GW respectively, earned $0.03 per share on $3.3B in revenues, based upon the account of financial conditions. GCL results confirmed objectives given earlier by Canadian (CSIQ) about the ability to reach certain operational milestones for GCL wafer processing and polysilicon costs. The end of 2012 objective of $0.10 per watt processing with $.09 poly costs will produce 24% GM on a wafer sold at $0.25, a relatively comfortable level for an undisputed global leader. GCL processed wafers at $0.13 per watt and produced poly at $18.6 per kg in Q4. GCL is also in expansion mode into solar plant development and downstream activities in the US and Japan, as we reported on the Solar PV Investor site.
Renesola, the third largest wafer manufacturer in the world, and China Sunergy (CSUN), the smallest of the Chinese manufacturers listed in USA, announced their results on March 16th. Renesola shipped a combined 339MW of products, which included 94.5MW of modules in Q4. The modules sold at $0.97 per watt, while wafers sold at $0.36 per watt. For the yearly total, shipments were 1,294MW including 280.7 MW of modules. Net revenue for the year was at $985M, 18.3% below 2010 results. The dramatic decrease behind the wafer ASP was the main reason for the drop in revenues, despite the new quasi-mono wafer Virtus, which is gaining a lot of traction with clients. Renesola has managed to stay in the black on the year, which makes this a unique condition for a company that had the least amount of opportunity for a gross margin based on wafer pricing.
The big contributing feature was their own polysilicon production, which will be expanding in 2012 as a helpful portion of value chain enabling lower cost of internal modules. However, as a standalone production, costs are borderline with the spot ASP, putting at risk gross margins in the wafer segment. Renesola plans to develop its poly manufacturing in Phase II to reach 10,000MT of poly per year by the end of 2012, up from the current 4,000MT. The cost of poly production for Renesola in Q4 was at $30 per kg, and with the new plant running is expected to reach $24 per kg by year's end. Wafer processing improved by three cents to $0.20 per watt, but appears to be somewhat lagging when benchmarked against GCL, whose production includes processing of quasi mono wafers, even so when granted a degree of error due to variable quasi mono penetration at each company. By Q4 2012 the company expects this cost to be reduced to $0.15 per watt, and after adding poly, to ultimately drop down to a total of $0.28 for the watt. Despite those efforts I expect Renesola's wafer production cost to be 40% above the one at GCL for that period. Renesola appears to identify the above condition and plans to increase sales of modules built on its own value chain by leveraging the full spectrum of internal production. Today's all-cost-in at $0.73 (March 2012), makes the company the most efficient module manufacturer on the market, without seeing potentially better results from LDK (LDK). In line with this thought module capacity is expected to increase to 1GW, contingent upon demand and expected cost dynamic, while CEO Li is firm on his estimate of 600MW of module sales in 2012, a 137% jump. The sales of wafer will grow as well, into the 20 to 40% range, or 1.2 to 1.4GW. Virtus appears to draw a 20% premium on the market to quasi mono strong wafer made by GCL, and priced by GCL, as part of the LT contract Canadian described in February. Renesola is probably the last resort for a cheap wafer, aside from LDK, for those who never got on the GCL wagon. Some Taiwanese companies like Green Energy Technology may stay in line, but the rest of the cheap wafers will be coming from bankruptcies rather than from continuous production. Renesola's wafer capacity will be at 2GW, including 1.6GW of Virtus' wafer lines.
While China Sunergy sold 420MW of products in 2011, including 411.5MW of modules, the company lost $94M for the year and went through ADS consolidation in order to avoid delisting as one of the unique conditions affecting the company's stock. As others, Sunergy sees downstream business as a door leading to a profitable dynamic. The work estimate here is for 100MW financed by the Chinese banks in 2012. Sunergy also has high conversion modules, which are apparently capable of conversions of 17.7%. Those sales are still limited, thus overall ASP for Sunergy was at an average of $0.94 per watt, not seeing much of the premium. Synergy plans Q1 sales at $0.84 per watt, with processing costs of $.20 per watt cell and $0.25 per watt module. To date, Renesola with $0.97, and Jinko with $0.96, are the other two companies that sold below $1 in Q4, and are expected to continue the downward trend, reaching below $0.90 in the same fashion as Sunergy reported. Another bomb dropped, which is becoming a tradition of Renesola CEO Mr. Xianshou Li, was the prediction of Q4 module pricing as low as $0.70 to $0.75, which spells little to no gross margin for the majority of the industry, unless as Canadian speculated, they can process wafers bought at $0.25 into modules at $0.35 processing per watt. In order to reach 10% gross margin in Q1, Sunergy needs to purchase wafers at $0.30 per watt, a steep drop from blended wafer costs of $.38 in Q4. Luckily, Sunergy is included in GCL's customer list, and getting to this level is feasible through this relationship, but may be delayed as the company is cycling inventory.
Insofar as predictions for Q1 and the year, solar companies have no manufacturing ability to reach a profit for the H1 as an industry, with perhaps few breakaways in the second part of the year. Almost certainly all companies mentioned will have an impossible task to be profitable for the full year, unless the distribution and development efforts will be dramatically increased to affect this year's income statements.
Finally, another postponement had been made in the case of importation duties. It is ironic that something that has been observed by SolarWorld with such clarity and conviction cannot be determined, due to its complexity, by a governmental body. Perhaps the complexity is in the attempt to prove something which does not exist in the presented framework, but it is a result of any industrialized country supporting its efforts internally and globally, in the case of China leading the spent in renewables for years, and finally reaching its leadership by cost management today. Further, it appears that in anticipation of the soon-to-be-announced verdict, two currently anonymous companies went public with their part in the anti-dumping petition against the Chinese: MX Solar USA, a manufacturer of solar panels in Somerset, N.J., with 65MW of production and 120 workers at peak; and Helios Solar Works from Milwaukee, with its 50MW production and 34-person workforce. CASM, or Collation for American Solar Manufacturing, claims a membership of 150 companies and 15,000 workers, a smaller headcount against what many consider a 100,000 job industry and growing, with the fastest pace among other American industrial segments. For every installation job, which is a 100% labour-intensive process, manufacturing by today's standards constitute 0% (automation) to 15% labor; this means for one job in manufacturing ten are created in installing. SunPower (SPWR) is the bestselling brand in California, and has no problem competing with the Chinese on grounds of conversion. Kyocera and Sharp are leading sellers, with a lot higher pricing as we have proven on many occasions; again quality and conversion makes the sale here. No large American corporations joined CASM, including MEMC (WFR), SunEdison and First Solar (FSLR), with the latter looking actively for work in … China. In the latest announcement the case conclusion will be delivered in May, but the outcome is already being neutralized by some of the Chinese. Sunergy is prepared to open a manufacturing site in the US, and Jinko recently made arrangements with an OEM module assembler in Canada, something which Hanwha has been doing for more than a year. LDK has been having OEM arrangements made; Canadian sells "Made in Ontario" modules, which under NAFTA should be free of any duties. Suntech simply makes modules in Arizona. Therefore if the duties are in fact enforced, the impact may be minimal for the majority of those who matter. Yingli and Trina did not provide details on how they will deal with duties at the manufacturing level. Trina, who counts on 20% plus business in the US, took an 8% provision added to cogs in Q4, the only company at this point taking financial adjustment in case of the incoming verdict.
Disclosure: I am long YGE, TSL.
03/19/2012 | 10:55am
The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. ("K&T"), www.nasd-law.com, announced today that it is investigating claims on behalf of First Solar (NasdaqGS: FSLR) shareholders who sustained investment losses due to an over-concentration of shares in First Solar stock. Trading at over $300 per share in July 2008, First Solar has declined substantially and is now trading around $30 per share, representing a decline of about 90%.
Since 2000, K&T has pioneered the representation of High Net Worth ("HNW") and Ultra-HNW clients who sustained investment losses as a result of holding concentrated positions in a single security or sector, in a full-service brokerage account. The clients we represented and continue to represent include founders of public companies and key employees from virtually every industry who received large grants of stock options or Rule 144 restricted stock. The claims, filed in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Arbitration Department, focused on the mismanagement of the clients' portfolios given the fact that there were risk management strategies that would have protected the value of the concentrated portfolio. Such risk management strategies include stop loss and limit orders, protective puts and collars. Stop loss orders, limit orders and protective puts provide an account with downside protection and an exit strategy should the stock decline in value. A hedge strategy, known as a "zero cost" collar, would have created a range of value that the portfolio would have maintained irrespective of the fluctuation and direction of the underlining stock price. The failure to use risk management strategies as well as the failure to "hedge" the value of a concentrated portfolio directly exposes an investor's concentrated position to the fluctuations in the volatile securities markets.
The attorneys at K&T are dedicated to pursuing claims on behalf of investors who have suffered substantial investment losses. K&T, an experienced, qualified and nationally recognized securities litigation law firm, practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation. If you wish to discuss this announcement or sustained losses of $500,000 or more as a result of holding a concentrated position in First Solar, please contact Steven D. Toskes of Klayman & Toskes, at 888-997-9956, or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com
Jede kleine Erholung wird schnell wieder im Keim erstickt.....sch.... Aktie!
Good luck! :-(
... ist angesagt...... Meiner Ansicht nach wird hier ein gutes Unternehmen sturmreif geschossen. Die heute beschlossenen Ausgleichszölle werden mit Sicherheit etwas Entspannung für FS bringen und es ist somit fast zu 100% sicher, dass Mitte Mai noch mal einiges an Strafzöllen draufgesattelt wird.
Insbesondere für das Geschäftsmodell von FS ist das extrem hilfreich, denn bei einem Solarkraftwerk im 100 MW-Bereich, sind Kostenvorteile von 10% oder mehr schon ein erhebliches Plus.
Diese ganze Klage-Geschichte ist sicher weniger heiß, als sie gekocht wurde. So etwas ist ärgerlich, zieht sich aber meist über Jahre und wer weiß, bei der Entscheidung steht FS vielleicht schon wieder über 100 US$......
Der Amerikanische Markt wird extrem wachsen in den nächsten 5 Jahren und FS sitzt da fest im Sattel. Und der neue CCO wird sicher seine Beziehungen in den Emerging Markets spielen lassen und dann wird jeder der um die 20 Euro diese Aktie nicht gekauft hat sich ziemlich heftig in den Allerwertesten beißen.
Vorbörslich 1% im PLUS - jetzt schon 3% im MINUS- Die Amis sind echt unberechenbar. Wer auch immer im Hintergrund agiert und den Kurs herunterprügelt, es funktioniert!
Leider!
Good luck!
A volatile time for the leading thin-film solar manufacturer.
ERIC WESOFF: MARCH 23, 2012
First Solar (Nasdaq:FSLR), despite some recent body blows to its stock price and morale, remains the standard-bearer of the American and perhaps global solar industry. No solar company has grown as fast as First Solar with as much continual progress in execution and technology. The next few years willl be a challenge for them as for every firm in the solar industry, but despite short-sellers and politicians with suspect agendas, First Solar remains the thin-film module technology leader and world leader in price per watt.
News for First Solar, both good and bad, has been coming at a fast pace lately. Here's a round-up of news and recent coverage:
President Obama Visits Copper Mountain
Obama visited the largest operational U.S. photovoltaic plant -- the 55-megawatt (DC) Sempra Copper Mountain solar facility in Boulder City, Nevada which uses more than 775,000 First Solar solar panels. First Solar also served as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. Here are extracts from his energy-focused speech.
For a novel take on this project, here's Fox News likening this plant to Solyndra -- as they will everything related to solar from now on. Note that Copper Mountain is privately financed and did not receive any DOE loans.
First Solar's "Manufacturing Excursion"
An estimated four percent to eight percent of the cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film modules manufactured by First Solar between June 2008 and June 2009 had a “process control” issue which resulted in a potential “premature power loss once in the field,” according to First Solar Chair and Interim CEO Mike Ahearn.
The process control issue, which the company has been dealing with in financials since 2010, involved global production and all three of First Solar’s CdTe manufacturing facilities at the time (in Ohio, Germany, and Malaysia). The issue was identified in June 2009 and the process factor was “addressed.” Subsequently, First Solar has been fulfilling its warranty obligations with its customers. “The vast majority were in Europe,” said First Solar’s Vice President of Communications Ted Meyer. Most were in Germany, where the bulk of First Solar’s modules were being sold at the time.
First Solar’s remediation program includes module removal, testing, replacement and logistical services and additional compensation payments to customers under certain circumstances. First Solar has now “processed over 95 percent of the total claims submitted” and, to date, “the total cost of remediating the manufacturing excursion is $215.7 million,” said Ahearn. That includes, he added, “$145.6 million above and beyond our standard warranty.”
For First Solar, the issue is largely resolved, and “while the cost of the program has been much higher than we would’ve liked,” Ahearn said, “we believe we have done the right thing in demonstrating our commitment to our customers beyond our product warranty.”
Panel Power Degradation
In a separate issue, Credit Suisse's Kumar cited a National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL) report finding “high temperature degradation of CdTe panels” an issue.
According to First Solar, panel underperformance “was unrelated to climate” and First Solar has no concern about the performance of the panels it has subsequently installed and is installing in its solar power plants. The company, he said, has tests showing CdTe thin film to get better “energy yields” and “performance ratios” than silicon modules.
But, Meyer pointed out, because the company is now building in the U.S. desert Southwest, the Middle East and other places much hotter than Europe, its Q4 financials included a one percent higher set-aside in the event of warranty-related expenses. The set-aside, a completely separate matter from the manufacturing excursion, is listed as a “warranty rate change” of $37.8 million. That $37.8 million, Meyer said, “covers all of the five-plus gigawatts we have in the field going forward.”
“Our experience has shown that our warranty rates for hot climates are slightly higher than the return rates for temperate climates,” explained First Solar Chief Financial and Accounting Officer Mark Widmar. The one percent extra set-aside will “account for potential returns going forward.”
More on Degradation
In a rare and likely reluctant release of actual data, First Solar presented some NREL degradation test results of CdTe panels. NREL found a 0.53 percent per year long-term and linear degradation rate over 16.5 years -- a degradation rate comparable to other established photovoltaic technology. This data was presented by Raffi Garabedian, First Solar Vice President of Advanced Technology, at a recent IEEE PV Silicon Valley event at PARC.
Enbridge Purchases First Solar’s 50-megawatt Silver State North Power Plant
Enbridge bought the 50-megawatt Silver State Power Plant in Nevada in what a represenative of First Solar called "continued momentum in realizing our project pipeline, getting projects built, [and] selling them to top tier players,"
Enbridge is Canada’s largest oil-pipeline operator. The project, to be operational in May of this year, is built on federal land. Pricing was not disclosed.
Silver State North Solar Project at a glance:
Location: Clark County, Nevada, near the community of Primm
Net Peak Capacity: 50 megawatts (AC)
Project Area: About 600 acres (on Bureau of Land Management lands)
Approximate number of solar modules: Over 800,000
Annual yield: 122,000 megawatt-hours (corresponding to the annual consumption of about 9,000 homes)
Energy Purchaser: NV Energy (25-year PPA)
Making Solar Power Plants Better Grid Citizens
Robert Jenkins, First Solar's Director of Utility Interconnection, works on plant performance requirements and utility requirements. Greentech Media spoke with him on Thursday. In an effort to be a good grid citizen, First Solar has begun to add Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) and Dynamic Voltage Support to the Antelope Valley Solar Ranchh and the Agua Caliente solar power plants.
"LVRT is is the ability of a PV plant to stay connected to the grid during voltage and frequency excursions and return to the pre-disturbance power levels once the distrurbance has been cleared," explained Jenkins. As soon as the fault is cleared the plant goes back to producing power.
"Dynamic Voltage Support is the ability of the plant to monitor the grid voltage and match the reacitve output to a prescribed band, added Jenkins. If voltage starts starts to sag or rise, reactive power is used to inject or withdraw the variations.
These functions are performed at or near the inverter, a piece of hardware First Solar does not build, but specifies and purchases in high-volumes.
Daryl Issa Committee Attacks DOE loans to AVSR and Agua Caliente
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Darrell Issa, is investigating the DOE loans to the innovative and doomed Solyndra solar panel factory. But the committee is also going after the DOE loans to California's Antelope Valley Solar Ranch and Arizona's Agua Caliente solar power plant because the technology was not innovative enough. Both of those plants were developed by First Solar which is suggesting that the advanced technology in the plants involves new power electronics technologies such as Low Voltage Ride Through and Dynamic Voltage Support (see above).
Real-time Company News, Economic Reports, Analyst Calls, Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations and Key Industry News as it happens.
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The Management Gap at First Solar (FSLR)
Posted: March 23, 2012 at 11:33 am
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First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has been one of the worst performing stocks out there over the last year. Michael Ahern is searching for a new CEO after a departure or termination of Rob Gillette as CEO. There has been a management vacuum here and the landscape is such that many CEOs are not willing to take this job.
First Solar faces a solar market where the Chinese are dumping panels at prices often said to be under the natural cost of production in China. The company is facing margin pressures as long as they eye can see and even high oil prices have not translated to the love of solar again. After the Solyndra bankruptcy incident cost Joe Taxpayer a sum of about $500 million, even the White House is less active out there marketing the great alternative projects compared to 2010 and 2011.
First Solar is also looking to bolster up its board of directors. Our serious question is simple: What sort of a guy, or lady, would want to step into this role today? Unfortunately, not many takers considering the key challenges that lie ahead. Austerity measures will only play a larger and larger role in the years ahead. This is a job that will require even more of a turnaround specialist compared to traditional turnarounds.
With shares down 2.5% at $26.28 today, the 52-week trading range is $25.29 to $163.00. Yep, shares are down worse than 80%.
machen, sehe ich das als bodenfestigung ;) Unter 25,29$ wäre ich aber nochmal short eingestellt
noch vor einem Jahr hat das gute Stück 100EUR gekostet - schon krass. Ich hätte mit meinen derzeitigen Anteilen ein kl Einfamilienhaus gehabt^^
Aus der Krise gehen die Stärksten gestärkt hervor - Pleitegeier bzw. deren Marktanteile werden auf wenige Player verteilt. FS gehört ganz klar zu den Global Playern im Solarsektor und ist in meinen Augen auch "too big to fail". Nerven sind gefragt aber kein Angstschweiss.
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verstehe das wer will.....
Ist Börse immer rational ????
kaufen wenn die kanonen donnern..lautet die devise..oder seit ihr schon alle investiert...dann drückt eure EK´s