Category Archives: Time is Energy – Daniel Simon
Solar PV Cost per GW
By request, a quick post on the cost of new solar vs. new nuclear. {N.B. This analysis is like comparing apples to oranges, since solar PV delivers “peak” or daytime power, while nuclear provides “baseload” or power around the clock .} The cost of solar panels continues to fall…PV panels from China now cost ~$0.75/W +/- (kick that up to about $1/W in [...]
Is There Anything Worse Than Being A Solar Investor Right Now? $LDK $JKS
I clearly picked the wrong 6months to be invested in solar. The news has been nonstop terrible since March. LDk now sells for $5/sh and JKS is just above $10/sh. Pricing for solar panels fell from $1.85/W in Q4 2010 to $1.65/W in Q1 to $1.35/W in Q2 and is now around $1.20/W & hopefully [...]
Solar Stock Recap 1H 2011
The last 3 months have been an awful "year" to be invested in solar. The price of solar panels has fallen 25-30% since April. (May wasparticularly rough.) And the stock prices of many solar panelmanufacturers have collapsed (along with their p/e multiples). The good news is that demand finally appears to be picking up and [...]
Why LDK Solar is a Mega Buy at these Levels $LDK
Solar stocks in general, and chinese solar stocks in particular appearto be excellent values. Two of my favorites on a valuation basis are JKS and LDK (although almost any chinese solar looks cheap). Bothare selling at a P/E of 3 based on trailing earnings. LDK is scheduledto report earnings on Monday June 7 after the [...]
Why I Just Pulled the Trigger on Jinko Solar $JKS
I first wrote about Jinko Solar just over two months ago. At the time, JKS (a small capChinese solar panel manufacturer) was trading near $30/sh and had a P/Eof 4.5 after posting phenomenal earnings. JKS reportedextraordinarily good results again yesterday. Earnings were $2.1/sh(beating estimates by $0.57/sh and quadrupling the year ago earnings inwhat is traditionally [...]
Chicago Wastes $9M A Year of Energy on Street Lights
While most sane people would probably say no…if you live in Chicago (like me) you actually say YES! I am talking about the annual $ value of the wasted energy from ourstreet lights. Chicago has ~250,000 street lights, most are sodium vapor (yellow street lights) HED lights that send light basically in everydirection. While the [...]
Solar Stocks 2011: No Respect $JKS $FSLR $LDK
Usually stocks that crush earnings and are growing revenues by 100%+year over year are rewarded with higher than market multiples of P/E. But then I guess there is nothing usual about the solar industry thesedays. One stock–ticker JKS–reported earnings this morning that beatestimates by $0.80 for the quarter, and it sold off over 3.5% by [...]
Thoughts Ahead of WFR’s Q4 Earnings $WFR
I’ve been an investor in WFR for about 2.5 long suffering years. The stock closed today at $11/sh (52 wk range is ~$9-$17). MEMC Electronics reports earnings Tuesday Feb 1, and I’m nearly certain that Q4 will be a very strong quarter. Revenue and earnings will be upsubstantially from prior quarters. Consensus estimates predict 80% [...]
2011 Solar Market Scenarios
While we will not have the all the numbers for 2010 until about March2011, let us assume that in 2010 the solar industry will install 15GW at an average cost of $5.50/watt. This compares with 7.5GW at $6.50/wattin 2009, and 5GW at $7.50/watt in 2008. (Rough round figures, maybe alittle on the high side.) Of [...]