By
Toby Shute
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June 13, 2008
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Hey there, solar Fools. Let's dive right in to this week's happenings -- there's a lot to cover.
On Monday, material master DuPont (NYSE: DD ) announced that it's cranking up its solar business. No, DuPont's not jumping on the thin-film bandwagon -- it'll do just fine selling highly conductive silver paste to traditional and thin-film players alike. By doubling manufacturing capacity of the paste at a Chinese plant, the company expects solar-related revenue to rise from today's $300 million to more than $1 billion within five years. I love the technology-agnostic angle here.
Other giant multinationals made notable moves this week. First, there was new entry Hyundai's order of 250 megawatts' worth of crystalline solar cell production lines. To give you a sense of scale, that's half of JA Solar's (Nasdaq: JASO ) expected year-end capacity. Next, General Electric (NYSE: GE ) upped its investment in U.S. thin-film start-up PrimeStar. That company, whose management includes veterans of Applied Films (now part of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT ) ), is employing cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology, just like thunderous thin-film leader First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR ) . GE's another aspiring solar slugger, with $1 billion in its sights.
On the technological innovation front, solar equipment maker Spire (Nasdaq: SPIR ) unveiled a combined cell and module manufacturing line. With many companies looking to vertically integrate in the space, this could be a very attractive piece of equipment for existing players and new players alike. Today, Spire's line comes with a modest 25-megawatt capacity, but I imagine the company could kick it up a notch if customers go crazy for the convenience.
Finally, First Solar caught a strong updraft today from some analyst comments. Piper Jaffray reiterated its buy rating on the company, noting that First Solar is perfectly positioned to play in the U.S. utilities space, with or without federal subsidies. Such are the perks of being a low-cost leader -- no wonder GE's chasing CdTe.
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