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Chinese Lawmakers' New Renewable Energy Policy Will Benefit Solar Companies

What you failed to mention in your comparison of Yingli and STP is that STP has a huge advantage over YGE in the technological advancements it has already made with their Pluto Technology and is already working on 2nd and 3rd generation amorphous silicon solar cell advancements of which IMHO will position STP well ahead of YGE and matter of factly will leave them in the dust. STP is a much better positioned company regarding product diversification and is far better positioned to resume significant growth as they now are well positioned for larger scale utility projects. STP ownership made only one mistake and perhaps it will not be the impediment that most people think and that was to negotiate long term silicon contracts and when the economy went south had to write down their losses which were principally overinflated payments for raw materials. Fact is that STP did the smart thing and came up front and center unlike LDK which likes to decieve its stockholders as witnessed by their massive losses in 4th Q and very poor 1st Q forecast. STP also added to their cash position and is being conservative with Capex so that they will meet their debt obligations. Fact is that STP's diversification with BIPV thin film and increased cost efficiencies through Pluto will make it clearly the most cost efficient PV company in China and will ultimately be the lowest cost per watt producer of panels as solar cell efficiencies improve and raw materials remain at their current prices. When and if prices for raw materials inccrease which many people feel will happen with rebound in technology sector for silicon demand expected in 4th Q of 2009. Either way STP will benefit from new reduced raw material contract pricing for silicon and if silicon demand increases STP will be miles ahead from their competition because they have secured long term contracts while competitors will have to pay a premium for silicon when spot prices spike. Don't discount STP's ability to navigate through these troubled times and when the business climate should change I expect STP to be well positioned for the world adoption of solar as cost per watt continues to plunge and solar becomes more cost efficient than coal.

Solar Stocks After Earnings: Suntech Up, ReneSola Down

David you have it wrong. STP is the big fish in the supply chain. Suppliers have benefited solely upon the fact that silicon has been hard to come by and the prices have remained high. Silicon prices are expected to come down significantly and what you don't know is that STP has a game changing technology called Pluto which can convert low grade silicon to higher grade silicon of which will further reduce their costs and drastically improve GM's. When silicon is abundant in 2009 Renesola will have to scramle to keep its GM's up for the big fish in the market place will be able to negotiate even better terms than currently exist. Don't get me wrong Renesola will have significant growth in 2009 but without question they will see their GM's drastically reduced from their current levels and that will put pressure on the stock for the silicon business IMHO will be more commoditized than the PV business and in the end it will be the end product manaufacturer who will be the big winner. This is the reason why the large PV manufacturers will have the upper hand in 2009 and 2010 and why STP is in a much better market position with already having contracted for 900MW of silicon for 2009.