2008 full-year and quarterly reports are beginning to come in and the
market is watching closely for signals of what's to come in 2009.
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) released preliminary results
for 4Q08 that show how the solar company has restructured its balance
sheet to survive the market downturn. The company cut its workforce by
800 employees, liquidated short term investments, and took advantage of
the down market to buy back convertible notes at a net gain of $30
million. The company actually expects a steep increase in 4Q revenues
but dropping silicon prices are expected to affect the company's
margin.
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), a manufacturer of wafers and related products to the semiconductor and solar industries, reported that net sales fell off steeply
in 4Q08. The company said sales of wafers for solar applications
actually increased over the previous quarter, but the drop in sales for
semiconductors more than offset that increase. The company warned that
revenue in 1Q09 could be cut in half.
A report in The Mercury News, said solar thermal company Ausra is planning to reduce the scale
of its projects. The company is one of several with utility-scale
projects underway in the California desert. However, the company, which
recently opened a factory in Las Vegas, reportedly plans to focus on
smaller projects and the sale of equipment, in response to the
difficult finance market.
GE (NYSE: GE) participated in a $20 million funding round for Arizona-based TPI Composites.
The company supplies wind turbine blades to GE. TPI last year tripled
its production capacity, opening factories in Iowa and China. The
company also has a joint venture with Mitsubishi Power Systems in Mexico.
Beacon Power Corporation (Nasdaq: BCON), a company that designs flywheel energy storage systems, signed a two-year agreement with the energy utility National Grid
(NYSE: NGG). The companies plan to share performance and economic data
on the the flywheel systems to determine their potential value to the
electric grid for frequency regulation. The systems are thought to be
especially promising for leveling fluctuations in wind power.
Coulomb Technologies, a company that makes charging stations for electric vehicles, has secured $3.75 million in Series A funding from Estag Capital
AG of Berlin, Germany. Coulomb is developing what it calls the
ChargePointTM Network, that it hopes will become part of the
infrastructure for future fleets of plug-in eletric vehicles. Coulomb
wants to generate revenue by selling the charging stations for $3000 a
piece and managing a service plan, through which drivers will pay a
monthly fee to use charging stations.
Range Fuels, Inc., a company focused on the production of cellulosic ethanol, announced an $80 million loan guarantee
from U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist construction of the
company's first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant near Soperton,
Georgia. The first phase of the plant is already under construction and
is expected to begin production in 2010.
