My Top 5 Alternative Energy Stocks - and 10 Honorable Mentions

I keep a regularly updated watch list of 30 or so alternative energy stocks. The top half of my list receives the majority of my research hours. Among them I organize a top 5 which are the stocks I would currently consider buying if certain conditions are met, usually technical. Over the past 12 months this research has been mostly fruitless as I have held mainly only First Solar (FSLR). However, I am now looking for the "next FSLR."

First Solar: I have owned this stock since Feb 2007. I have continued to buy since then and have often had a "portfolio" which consisted of 100% FSLR heavily margined. However, after a disappointing quarter when cost/watt was flat and no new manufacturing was announced, I have decided to hedge my bet with Applied Materials (AMAT). Until AMAT introduced their Sunfab line, FSLR had no major competition. Still, FSLR's capex/watt is half that of AMAT. The vast majority of my investments remain in FSLR, at least for now.

Applied Materials: The only company currently with a realistic roadmap for competing with First Solar on price, both in capex/watt and manufacturing cost/watt. They have the ability to leverage their expertise, and billions in capital in order to provide turnkey solutions for PV manufacturers. Their attempt to commoditize the business could revolutionize the industry, much to the detriment of other current PV players.

They are leveraging their gen 8.5 LCD fab expertise in order to create panels about 4 times the size of the largest currently available panels. Their Sunfab line utilizes readily available amorphous silicon instead of more exotic rare metals such as tellurium in cdte or indium in CIGS. The key to Sunfab will be their ability to rollout the double junction lines which will increase efficiency from a miserable 6% to a respectable 9%. With nearly $2 billion in annual income and a 1% dividend, this is the most conservative investment on the list. It's also trading at the low end of its historical valuation. That makes it the only stock on my list value investors would even consider.

Ormat Technologies (ORA) : A geothermal play. At 3-8 cents/kwh geothermal, this is already a proven technology and competitive with coal. There are still plenty of unexploited geothermal resources available on the west coast alone, where Ormat is headquartered. My problem with this company is that they are also in the electricity generation business. This bogs down earnings growth but also makes for much more stable and conservative growth. The recent stock offering is a good sign, showing growth prospects. This one will be even better when the stock sells off on the news.

Maxwell Technologies (MXWL): The most speculative play among my top 5. Currently the largest ultracapacitor play. Ultracapacitors have the potential to displace batteries completely since they can be made cheaper, lighter, and more durable than lithium-ion or NIMH batteries. Battery technology is the main limitation of electric vehicles today. Normally I would not include a small cap in my top 5. However, due to my certainty than electric vehichles will become the norm sooner than the market expects, and the fact that there are few current options for investing in an EV company, Maxwell makes the list.

Cree Inc. (CREE): One of a few large LED manufacturers in the world. Compact Fluorescent and LED lighting are the most cost-effective ways to conserve energy today. Incandescent lightbulbs are scheduled to be phased out completely. Many people don't realize than CFs have their problemstoo, namely a hazardous amount of mercury if the bulb is broken. Though LEDs consume about 10% of electricity as incandescents and 30% of that of CFs. LEDs are currently quite expensive, at about $70 for a 100 watt equivalent. Also these 100-watt-equivalent bulbs are made up of multiple LEDs, as single LEDs have been unable to economically provide adequate lumens.

This $70 "investment" will pay for itself in energy savings many times over, not to mention all the hassle saved from changing bulbs, as LEDs can last a lifetime. However, most people will suffer "sticker shock" at the high upfront cost. When the price is reduced about 50%, it will hit the consumer's sweet spot and begin to achieve mass market appeal. A risky strategy of integration and alienating former OEM manufacturers may explain recent underperformance.

Honorable mentions:

MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) - Rumors of the demise in the profitability of polysilicon may be greatly exaggerated. The majority of the Chinese polysilicon plants scheduled to come on line in 2008 are ungoing delays and production problems. Polysilicon shortages may continue well into 2010, especially if major new solar subsidies are introduced perhaps by the US or China.

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) - One of the oldest alternative energy plays. Founder invented the NIMH battery. NIMH is a proven alternative to lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Lithium currently has a 20% annual degradation in capacity regardless of use. Also has a promising thin film amorphous silicon PV business in Unisolar. Has long been mismanaged but a great quarter moves it into the watch list.

Evergreen Solar (ESLR) - Another amorphous silicon manufacturer which turned a profit for the first time last quarter, albeit only 1 cent/share.

SunPower (SPWR) - Offers the highest efficiency PV product. Also considered aesthetically superior for built in PV (BIPV) applications. Expect to pay a premium of about 10%/watt for SPWR product. In the long run when polysilicon prices eventually come down, SPWR could be the biggest beneficiary as price becomes less of an issue and maximizing power generation per square foot becomes more of one. Also has a tremendous amount of exposure to the US market.

Ascent Solar (ASTI) - The largest publicly traded CIGS thin film PV manufacturer. A viable technology sometimes deemed "3rd generation" PV. Numerous startups in this field with moderate funding make it hard to determine who the leader in this field with be.

Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI) - A highly speculative stock with tenfold appreciation potential. Likely to trade flat for years to come until successful commercialization is proven. Has developed a battery for electric vehicles which charges in 10 minutes but is significantly more expensive.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT) - The least proven of all the stocks on the list. Develops buoys for ocean wave power generation. Currently trading below the value of their cash assets. Like ALTI, needs to prove commercial success.

Akeena Solar (AKNS) - This name is of interest because it's the largest pure play among solar installers in the US market. Far from my favorite investment vehicle, it acts as my barometer for the health of the solar industry since they carry products from Suntech (STP), Sunpower, and Kyocera (KYO).

Emcore (EMKR) - Another next-generation PV company. Along with Boeing's Spectrolab, Emcore makes the world's highest efficency solar cells. The concentrated PV market, which uses mirrors to reflect sunlight onto efficient and relatively small areas of PV cells, gives this company enormous potential.

5N Plus [VNP.TSX] - First Solar's main tellurium supplier traded on the Toronto exchange. Relatively large market cap for a TSX stock. Has tenfold appreciation potential due to the upward pressure on tellurium prices. Can be viewed as a safer way to benefit from FSLR's growth.

Disclosure: I am long FSLR and AMAT

Comments

[EnergyFinan...:]

If you'd like to learn more about First Solar, Applied Materials, and SunPower, you should attend the Renewable Energy Finance Forum-Wall Street (REFFWallStreet.com), held June 18-19 in New York City. The CEOs from all three companies will be speaking about the future of the photovoltaics industry and the economic and policy factors influencing project development.

2008 May 13 12:06 PM

[tylakewalker:]

I think you are focusing on solar too much. Take a look at wind power. I suggest AMSC and BWEN. I also like sugarcane based ethanol CZZ.

2008 May 13 01:22 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

Wind farms are great but the problem with wind power stocks is that it's a commoditized business. I used to own Zoltek (ZOLT) as a wind power play since they have a large share of the carbon fiber market, but the company is obviously mismanaged. Notice how I left all the Chinese solar stocks off the list. All of the companies I focus on have disruptive technology.

2008 May 13 02:07 PM

[Zenfar:]

Good list, I would change out ENER or ASTI for CREE, worried about big players like GE steam rolling CREE.

2008 May 13 02:34 PM

[eli3209:]

Did you ever hear of Soen (SOLAR ENERTECH CORP) what is your opinion. I liked that they were connected to a university...but they can't seem to get anywhere despite there new facilities...

2008 May 13 02:37 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

GE is currently lacking an LED presence. That's what led to rumors they may make an offer for Cree. I wouldn't worry about GE. The same thing could've been said about all these solar "startups" 10 years ago. But GE has been unbelievably slow to the solar game. Competition is always fierce in the early stages of hypergrowth but generally all the stocks involved appreciate for at least a few years until the market sorts out the winners from the losers.

2008 May 13 02:38 PM

[sirfisup:]

I am realy surprised that you discounted Suntech Holdings. Disruptive technology means nothing unless it has a significant TAM. Suntech's scalability and production advantages are too heavily discounted here simply because they can retrofit their production lines quickly and at much lower cost efficiencies than most of their competitors. The biggest reason why you should of had them on your list is simple "economies of scale". Suntech has the most to gain over and above all other solar players because it has yet to ramp-up production for use within China and India. The most cost effective solution will always win in the end. Just like Mercedes appeals to a certain demographics Toyata appeals to a much wider demagraphic simply because it is a great product at half the expense of a Mercedes. In addition it is important to note that companies with significant cash flow such as Suntech can also add any technology like BIPV with MSK purchase and incorporate their own thin film technology of which Dr. Shi has many other patents but sees the BIPV commercialization with thin film integration to be the emerging technology winner for massive commercial and residential adoption. The best is yet to come and you can expect some exciting breakthroughs with the BIPV.

2008 May 13 03:08 PM

[Brinks:]

Hi Andrew Take a look at Western Wind WND.V

I have several write-ups.

I have a comment on Macau. Email me [e-mail]

2008 May 13 03:26 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

I've owned STP in the past as my "value" play simply because I've been uncomfortable at times having all my holdings in FSLR. However, AMAT is my new limited downside play and I see no reason to buy STP over AMAT. With 2 billion in annual income AMAT is the real potential economy of scale. The $1.9 Billion Best Solar order alone would leapfrog best solar over STP. The slew of low priced pv coming online is very bad news for any company still trying to expand economies of scale with a potentially inferior technology. STP realizes this and is also a customer of AMAT. When you think about AMAT's potential it's comparable to all the other solar stocks combined. Since they're turning over equipment quickly they don't have to raise as much money as STP or Best Solar.

2008 May 13 03:27 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

I try to stay away from small caps under $500 mil or so. Over the years I've seen numerous promise the moon and fail to deliver. I'm beginning to suspect some of these managements may not even believe they can achieve the targets they set. Many are just pumping their stocks. A revolutionary technology needs to be combined with credible management. That's why Tesla Motors is my most anticipated IPO. Although they're also missing production goals, their CEO Elon Musk is proven as the billionaire founder of paypal.

2008 May 13 03:34 PM

[sirfisup:]

Wind power FYI is not a commoditized business its just not practical considering the huge amounts of land needed and the time needed to manufacture the product. GE can't produce the turbines needed fast enough and now the only alternative for wind to gain interest and investment is for smaller turbines otherwise wind is dead. You can take that to the bank.

2008 May 13 03:56 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

sirfisup, when I drive to the Akeena Solar I can see obvious differences between the modules offered by different manufacturers. When I was in Europe I saw no differences between the GE, Vestas, or any other wind turbine. The only way to cut costs in wind is to make them even bigger, and 1MW turbines are already huge. It's a similar story with solar thermal. Although wind and solar thermal are about half the price per kwh of PV currently, they are mechanically based technologies that have existed for centuries with very little innovation occuring. This is why 2030 forecasts have PV accounting for the lions share of new electricity generation as well as a large chunk of total capacity.

2008 May 13 04:16 PM

[Piggybank:]

1MW turbine's are small stake's compaared to vestas 3.5MW turbine's, the 4.5MW turbine's gamesa is developing, and the 5MW giants that Repower and Suzlon are putting out. And i'm not complaining on the profit im pulling in on wind turbine stocks in Europe.

That the turbine's cant be produced fast enough is because demand is so damn high, sure it takes some time to builmd them, but the wind turbine company's are expanding fast, and even at their rate Vestas is expecting the shortage to stay for a few years. All the more profit for them though. Vestas shot up 15% on last earnings, a week ago. Maybe you should consider Gamesa's earnings on thursday 15th of may.

I know some pretty hefty wind farms in development in Europe going over the 1 gigawatt total output, and even if it takes some space, there is always room in the sea. In the meantime takeovers in this sector are coman, Just recently European utility company SUEZ took over the largest wind farm in America, and Vestas is expanding in USA with a new factory.

Anyway, Andrew wanted to talk solar. Then again clearly he doesn't like any of the European Solar company's neither. this aint new on Seekingalpha, but Europe is well ahead in this sector and you would think that would be important in the grand sheme of things. Most of my solar investments are in renewable energy corp and Q-cells anyway. hey get MY honourable mention atleast.

As to the stocks listed. i have a small position left in ASTI, for reasons of their product, though i cant be all to happy about the stock dillution, lets hope they get really forward with that capital. I hav a large investment though in the bottom listed stock, 5N plus or VNP.TO, the "safe way" to play FSLR, but a company that has many strong advantage's in other fields to. Otherwise i stay somewhat out of the USA, don't like the dollar to much yet. I am following some wind farmers and own a position in NCEN.OB. A few more small positions in USA, but thats for an other topic.

2008 May 13 04:44 PM

[baird:]

Sirfisup,

Not sure what you mean about large land requirements, just visited a large windfarm in northern NY located on agricultural land, the tower footprint is miniscule, approx 100ft square and didn't interfere with crops or grazing below.

2008 May 13 07:44 PM

[ValueHunter:]

Been long AMAT heavily for a while now, although not as heavily as you are on FSLR. Was looking at STP though, because of their BIPV orientation. BIPV is where the sweet spot is going to be, I think.

2008 May 13 07:54 PM

[tessant:]

where is STP?

2008 May 13 09:10 PM

[smjj:]

Zenfar,

Did you see this news earlier... how much tellurium does FSLR really have??

theaustralian.news.com...

smjj


On May 13 12:06 PM EnergyFinanc ier wrote:

> If you'd like to learn more about First Solar, Applied Materials,
> and SunPower, you should attend the Renewable Energy Finance Forum-Wall
> Street ( REFFWallStreet.com), held June 18-19 in New York
> City. The CEOs from all three companies will be speaking about the
> future of the photovoltaics industry and the economic and policy
> factors influencing project development.

2008 May 13 10:21 PM

[Urbane Gori...:]

Re: GE buying CREE... You can never say never, but as an ex lighting sales person, I have to say that GE believes in the razor-blade theory of sales as promoted by Gillette .. They sell cheap lighting that has to be replaced a lot... CREE makes a product that will last... Oddly enough, I just replaced 6 50 Watt high intensity lights from a company in China .. The $8.95 lights that came with my fixtures from Home Depot lasted about 6 weeks... The state 2500 hours. My replacements cost me $15 each and are rated at 20,000 hours.. They consume 4 Watts ... The replacement cost alone is a massive savings and the energy use I expect will save me a fortune. The downside is that the light output is rated similar to a 25 Watt spot. Still....

Thx jegan ;-)

2008 May 13 10:48 PM

[slider:]

The same hype back in the 70's during the gas lines. The Fed's gave people a tax credit if you installed solar panels. Thirty years later the panels are nowhere to be seen.

2008 May 14 12:36 AM

[Andrew Ling:]

Slider the difference between the 70s and now was that the 70s was an artificial opec shortage and the peak was in US production. Current prices have nothing to do with opec. They are due to a peak in world production. Unless you plan on discovering life and hence oil on Mars peaking in world production is a problem several orders of magnitudes greater than peaking US production. There is no real solution within 20 years although anything that helps compensate for energy shortfalls will benefit.

2008 May 14 09:07 AM

[elfie:]

overall, as solar products become more of a commodity, its very likely margins will be squeezed

this means valuations will fall substantially

its called maturing industrial activity

2008 May 14 12:24 PM

[X-terminator:]

Andrew, I totally disagree with the no real solution within 20 years. Lets try drilling at home, off shore and Anwar. This would fully compensate our need until the NEXT REAL ENERGY!

2008 May 14 01:13 PM

[elfie:]

aren't solar products on the verge of being commodity offerings?

nothing is proprietary about production of these panels

its like technology, continuing innovation needed to maintain high margins; and at a point it becomes a commodity

no one discusses this

2008 May 14 01:25 PM

[Learning Curve:]

slider and others: in the 70's solar was in its infancy, "we" wanted to increase our intimacy with the Saudi regime and cancel energy efficiency considerations, solar was egg-headed and ecological --terms describing undesirables according to the new administration moving into the White House. To see for yourself, watch R Reagan proudly dismantling the solar panels at the White House in the film, “Who Killed the Electric Car”.

2008 May 14 02:01 PM

[richjoy:]

Thank you Andrew for an excellent article...and a discussion starter!

Fortunately, I don't need to hit a lot of home runs (which usually means being a .250 hitter); I'm comfortable being a .300 hitter with a lot of singles and doubles, and few strike-outs.

I very much like the alternative energy industry, but I am not certain which stocks, or even technologies, will be the winners in 5 years -- let alone in 30 years! I very much suspect (a) there will be a shakeout, perhaps violently so, with most of the alternative energy companies disappearing (clearly, some are pursuing dead-ends or have poor managements), and (b) the winners will not be one technology, but several which are best for different applications. Therefore, I like to spread the risks with ETF's plus a few individual stocks added.

Thanks to you, I'll now consider adding Applied Materials to my portfolio.

2008 May 14 02:03 PM

[Tommy C:]

A promising area I see, carbon fiber car bodies, they can easily knock off 1,000 + pounds off the weight of a steel car. I've looked at ZOLT, CCF, ACET, LXN, MTX, NUCO, they all stink. I think the best way to play the carbon fiber thing is with OC, Owens Corning and they don't even makecarbon fiber! Glass fiber isn't too shabby 7X steel, while carbon fiber is 10X. One thing I don't like about OC is all the bigwigs (CEO, CFO etc) are selling there stock options.

Another promising area is Geo thermal heat pumps, any good candidates? I've heard a outfit called Water-furnace is a big name in this stuff.

2008 May 14 02:55 PM

[Andrew Ling:]

Tommy C, carbon fiber is indeed light but the cheapest car made out of carbon fiber is actually the electric Tesla Roadster at $100K. It's a long way off from mass market appeal. Automakers will have to walk before they can run. They are still using mostly steel in their chassis which should be replaced with Aluminum. My Lotus Elise does 0-60 in 4.8 secs and gets 30 MPG thanks to it's 150 pound aluminum chassis and lightweight plastic body panels. I'm still amazed that Porche and other sports car makers still make their chassis out of steel.

2008 May 14 05:56 PM

[Eck:]

Ah, Andrew, we have something in common: I have two mid-sixties Lotus Elans salted away. I had a blast competing in amateur events with them many years ago, against cars such as Corvettes and Cobras with lots more power. A fiberglass body helped keep the weight down to only 1500 pounds, giving the little roadsters a real advantage. I envy you for having an ELISE!

I bought ZOLT a few weeks ago, thinking they would do well supplying both the wind and auto industries with carbon fiber, just to watch that stock go down. Holding onto it for now, as I hate taking a loss.

Speculated on SOLF a few days ago, and made a quick $2500 profit, as it surged through my limit sell price of $18 today. Cramer would not have approved, but I couldn't resist it as a speculative play as the price approached $13.

Think I'll use the proceeds to buy one of your top choices, probably FSLR, which is also one of Cramer's favorites. (He's not always right, of course. My best percentage increase ever was a biotech that he hated. Held it for only 2 days, and then it tanked. Sometimes you've got to take a chance).

Thanks for a great article. You've certainly generated a lot of thoughtful comments.

2008 May 14 07:51 PM

[elfie:]

solar panels will likely have smaller margins as industry gets more competition

this will kill valuations

panels will become commodity products as more silicon becomes available to allow increase capacity

2008 May 14 09:08 PM

[Adirondack ...:]

What do you folks think of PLUG? I'm long on it as a long term investment, expecting that one day those $3 shares will add a zero or more. They're beginning to gain traction with their "swap in" forklift fuel cell.

2008 May 15 04:53 PM

[investorslive:]

APWR a great Energy stock

NCEN trying to be a player in the energy market - we'll see about that...

check out www.investorslive.com/...

2008 May 16 12:00 AM

[2008traveler:]

MXWL - Use to own it before it big rise and then fall. The fall was right around the time they gave up manufacturing their ultra-capacitors and outsourced it to a private Chinese manufacturing company. I think they let the cat out of the bag. Won't be long before you can't be sure if you are getting the real deal or a counterfeit just like Viagra.

2008 May 16 12:32 AM

[investor 911:]

I honestly don't understand what u fellows are talking about...solar..capex/w... blah. I only invest thru' recommendations and ratings. Worked out fine for me. Andrew seems to know what he's doing...I'm going along with him. Will add amat to my portfolio. Thanks Andrew...not now..hopefully... later in the future.

2008 May 16 01:04 AM

[Andrew Ling:]

Eck, I've been trying to find a way to ship my Elise to Europe for the 3 months I'll be spending there. When I was there last year I drove my 60 horsepower rental Nissan Micra on the Autobahn flooring it for hours at a time. Unfortunately few people know the details and I didn't want to spend my vacation dealing with foreign bureaucrats. They charge a 20% tax to import the car but I figured I could sell it there to recover it there due to the favorable exchange rate and buy a new one when I got back.

I also got in and out of SOLF for a small profit last year before it had a huge collapse. I decided only to trade stocks I don't mind holding for long periods of time from now on. I'm still practicing my trading as it only accounts for about 5% of my position even though I make about 20 trades a month. My main trading principle is the change in the change in stock price. In other words when a stock accelerates on the way up it's commonly referred to as a break out and a buy indicator. Similarly when a stock sells off but the pace of the selloff slows to a stop it's also a buy indicator. This has been a great day trade with FSLR whenever the stock opens down on low volume. It will usually decrease it's downwards slope and then reverse itself at midday rallying back close to the open price by close. This doesn't work on high volume trading days since any resistance and support levels can be easily broken on volume.

2008 May 16 03:26 AM

[aquaculture:]

U.S. geothermal industry experiencing "dramatic growth surge", with expectations that total power production (currently 3 million homes)could triple over the next few years.
GEA together with Ormat (NYSE:ORA) and Glitnir Bank will host a workshop on july 23 in NYC to introduce geothermal energy to America's largest banks and financial community. Among the present: Google.
Google announced that geothermal energy will be one of their focus areas for new investment.
More info: geo-energy.org

2008 May 16 08:48 AM

[fredfs:]

Nice discussion. If you don't mind some comments from a newbie (not my age) - I agree that solar will join wind in surging in both the near and far term. The comments critical of wind don't jive. There is plenty of land left, and as someone noted the footprint of towers is relateively small. Certainly solar takes a larger footprint, but who cares when the size of the desert will dwarf the size needed for solar. One thing to remember about wind. It complements solar because it is available at night. The plus sides of that: more lighting is used at night, electric cars would mostly be re-charged at night, and...it is windier at night ! Until we figure out how to store electricity we are going to need both. I think diversification is the answer here - which is why I like your geothermal and ocean wave pics too. Thanks, Andrew - an excellent thread.

2008 May 18 12:00 PM

[Wez:]

A lot of these stocks are up huge since this article, you are on a tear Andrew.

2008 May 19 12:09 PM

[Whitehawk:]

I second comments by sirfisup and ValueHunter on the BIPV market. (BIPV==Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics.) In my view the BIPV market has been overlooked in the solar stock run-up. Because it may be tied to the building/construction market, some of the names have lagged in stock performance. This will surely change in the next few years as commercial and residential building incorporates more solar products, with the possibility of customers selling back power to the grid in high-cost markets and energy credits offered for solar generation. Open Energy Corporation (OEGY.OB) is one company well positioned to benefit, with a range of proprietary technology, innovative business plans, and strategic agreements with customers and other suppliers (such as Suntech).

(Disclosure: I own OEGY.OB shares. I am an independent investor and I do not work for the company, nor do I have any ties with management.)

2008 May 22 04:39 PM

[W Sell The oil:]

I have looked at ASTI. I suggest reading their annual report and keeping it on a watch list. The pattern for solar stocks is high volatility and big runs (look at Canadian Solar and Solarfun recently) as soon as
they report a profit. ASTI is pre-profit right now but if they meet
their bench marks and make some $ from Defense contracts, I
will buy some. I like the promise of their product, thin film on
plastic which no other solar company has. First Solar's thin film
on glass is more profitable than polysilicon.


As for wind, think local like you do with solar. A profitable
company, Aeroenvironment AVAV, is developing an
architectural wind product. The company is a small cap
defense company with a defense division and an energy
division. There is potential for a breakup of this company.
The defense division makes unmanned aircraft systems
which are being used by the Army and Marines in IRAQ
and Afganistan. The energy division makes battery charging
systems and architectural wind (small wind units which
can be incorporated into residential, commercial, and
industrial buildings). AVAV does not have a lot of
analyst cover nor has Cramer pumped this. In fact
he missed it a few days a go when he was talking wind.
These guys have a great track for patents and innovation.
The EV1 electric car was developed by AVAV.
(disclosure: I hold a small position)

Also, I suggest looking at utilities. Edison International
in southern California. EIX has gone from 16 to 54 in
5 years and pays a 2.3% dividend. EIX survived the
ENRON scam and due to NIMBY and California clean air
mandates is spending its resources expanding into geothermal,
wind, and solar, and developing energy conservation products.
EIX is AVAV's main competitor in architectural wind.

2008 May 23 05:37 PM

[SHABBAZZ:]

Very suprise to see that NBF was ignored here.

Unique technology, good management, a lot of patent.

Your view ?

2008 May 25 07:24 AM

[wsigler:]

PULVIA says:
"I am not aware of any a-SI that produces 9% efficiency from a commercial line"

...even though it was but a couple of days ago in a comment on another article that he acknowledged ENER (using a-si) is producing 8.5-9 ...WTF?

2008 Jun 11 07:05 PM

[gersh:]

are you still followin 5N Plus

2008 Jun 17 11:46 AM