Road Runner

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    • Mon Dec 1st 09:57 AM
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      Rating: +1 -1
      Commented on:
      Follow the Mutual Funds: Solar Is Bottoming
      Are these puchases investments or trades? They may just be playing the volitiltiy in the market, and not looking for a real, long-term price recovery.
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    • Sat Nov 29th 18:30 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      The Long and Winding Solar Road
      It's good to hear that SunPower is always looking for different types of panels to include in its supply chain. With its integrated structure (everything from module production to installation), I could see them partnering with solar module companies that have developed advanced solar cells (like a 35+% efficient concentrating PV cells using multiple layers of light absorbing material). SunPower gets extra income, and the partnering company gets the integrated chain from panel assembly, sales people, to installation.
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    • Sat Nov 29th 17:44 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Wind Power: What We Can Learn from Denmark
      This Denmark "pilot project" is great. Because if they get it working in Denmark, then it will work in the US, because Denmark is a more restrictive environment (smaller with less natural balancing of wind) than the US.
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    • Sat Nov 29th 17:38 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Wind Power: What We Can Learn from Denmark
      paultout, You said "Isn't it amazing how the same ideas and debunking of same repeat over and over? These discussions haven't changed over the past 6 months." But what you said after that are the same old ideas that have been touted and debunked on these sites for a long time. You are the same as the people you are complaining about.

      You said “But all of them agree that oil should remain low for the foreseeable future.” This is inaccurate. The price of oil HAS TO go back up. The current low price is artificially low because of the economic collapse and the artificially high dollar from the worldwide flight to safety. You can debate all you want about whether we are past “peak oil” or not. But, it doesn’t matter because we are definitely past “cheap oil”. Also, the emerging markets are still emerging. Just visualize 2 billion people driving Hondas.

      In 2 years, oil will be much higher, maybe at $100/barrel plus. There are many people saying this, counter to what you say. Just listen to the oil analysts on CNBC. Because of all the money (trillions with a “t” and an “s”) being pumped into world economy by the central banks, I hear analysts use the word “hyperinflation” just like the word “deflation” was being used a year ago.



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    • Sat Nov 29th 16:39 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Why I'm Bullish on the Solar Sector
      I sure hope your argument is true and it is enough to overcome the powerful macroeconomic downdraft on solar, but with the price of oil in the toilet, I can't believe your argument. With dirt cheap oil, public sentiment for solar could go very negative to the point where the word "solar" becomes synonymous with "overpriced" and "bad choice". At this point, companies and individuals will get a strong social pressure against solar projects, even if the economics of the project make sense.
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    • Sat Nov 29th 16:15 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Expect Continued Drops in Solar
      I own ENER, STP, and SPWRA. I'm trying to be positive like the posts on this site, but frankly, this sucks, and is going to suck until oil goes back to around $100/barrel. I'm hanging onto my stocks because oil has to go back up within 2 years with all the money being pumped into the economy - think weak dollar and inflation. The dollar is peaking now because it is the safe haven currency. Add to that the emerging markets demand and the end of cheap oil.

      Please don't give me the argument that oil is not directly linked to solar. In the minds of the public, it is. And, that sentiment is what is driving utility solar projects. For example, Europeans are growing weary of high electricity prices and they perceive alternative energy projects as a partial reason.
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    • Wed Nov 26th 18:13 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Nissan: Serious About EV Leadership
      I found the statement, "Longer term, Nissan expects to see many urban centers, such as London, where only ZEV will be exempt from expensive daily congestion fees." interesting. Often, to get a technical advancement off-the-ground there needs to be a "killer application". Some niche use that drives the production of a product to perfect the product and to make it affordable for other applications. In the 1960s, the "need it at whatever cost" of the space program launched the use of the integrated circuit. This and other applications may be a "killer app" for zero-emmisions-vehicle... Just a thought.
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    • Tue Nov 25th 10:20 AM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Which Companies Are Set to Benefit from the Obama Response?
      There is nothing wrong with Geithner. In fact, he is a very good person for the job. He has been on top of this crisis all along. He argued against letting Lehman fail. It was the Lehman failure that started this crash. If Lehman didn't fail, the world economy would not have gone into this tailspin.
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    • Tue Nov 25th 10:16 AM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Which Companies Are Set to Benefit from the Obama Response?
      Ryan, why are you disappointed with no details in the Obama speech? There shouldn't be any details. He just appointed his economic team and he wants them to be totally free to do the best thing for the economy. This is the best way to manage this situation, and Obama, like usual, does a great job of managing. Everyone, stop expecting details before the appropriate time.
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    • Fri Nov 21st 12:06 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Investable Solar Sector Outlook
      The only solid piece of information I get out of this is that nobody has a good grip on the future of solar in 2009. It seems like a guessing game, just like guessing where the economy is going over the next 2 years. This uncertainty is a significant part of the reason that solar stocks, and the rest of the stock market, is crashing. Markets hate uncertainty. Love Obama or hate him, at least the uncertainty of what the new administration will do will be greatly reduced by the end of February.
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    • Thu Nov 20th 14:02 PM
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      Rating: +1 -1
      Commented on:
      A Smart Electricity Solution for Transportation
      "Google, for example, has installed solar canopies on its parking lots to satisfy 30 percent of its headquarters' power demand." from article at www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin...
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    • Thu Nov 20th 12:13 PM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      A Smart Electricity Solution for Transportation
      My view on this "wasted electricity" is not that the energy is being wasted, but the infrastructure to generate and deliver that electricity is "wasted", or better said "underutilized&qu... One component, the electric grid, is a very expensive fixed cost. The smoother the electricity flow over the grid, the less "waste" of that fixed cost.
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    • Thu Nov 20th 11:49 AM
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      Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      A Smart Electricity Solution for Transportation
      You are spot on! There is so much talk about how solar and wind are inconsistent energy sources, and how there NEEDS to be an energy storage solution before wind and solar can supply a large amount of the US electric supply. Though I believe that good energy storage devices will be a big boom for solar and wind, I don’t believe it’s necessary because of methods to manage electricity use based on demand, such as plug-in hybrids.

      Charging plug-in hybrids during off-peak will be big, not only at night when demand drops, but during the late morning when solar is near peak but air conditioning is not going full speed. Employers could build solar farms in their parking lots that employees could use to re-charge their cars. The rate could be adjusted during the day so employees would charge at the best time. Excess electricity would be used for office AC and to sell back to the grid.

      All of this would be electronically monitored to get the most out of the solar output. For example, if it is a cloudy and hot day, then the rates to charge cars would be high all day. Cars that don’t need an extra to get back home could skip charging that day.

      I like your comment on diesel electric drive systems for large trucks. We don’t need to think in terms of eliminating oil use in the next 2 decades. We need to think about drastic reductions like this one. If diesel electric drive systems for large trucks sounds like something “lame”, note that railroad locomotives have been diesel electric for decades.
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    • Wed Nov 19th 12:27 PM
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      Rating: +2 -1
      Commented on:
      General Electric: Genuine Risk of Collapse?
      How can GE have financial problems with everyone glued to CNBC for hours every day watching the glabal finacical crisis. ;-)
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    • Wed Nov 19th 12:05 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Six Reasons for Cloudy Skies on the Solar Energy Industry
      People - stop comparing the current situation with the 1970s. We are in a totally different world now.

      First, There is a real oil crisis now and not an artificial one created by the Arab oil cartel. In the 1970s there were no emerging markets with billions of people expanding at 10%/year. Also, we have burned 30 years worth of oil since then and exhausted almost all of the "cheap" oil in the world. Oil prices will not drop back to low prices for many years like they did in the 1980s. I just heard an oil analysts say that oil below $70/barrel is destructive to developing new oil, which could lead to a sharp price increase when normal demand returns.

      Second, we have progressed greatly with solar technology since the 1970s. We CAN see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to grid parity. There is no new technology that needs to be developed like there was in the 1970s. It’s just a matter of manufacturing and installation innovation, and production scale. Solar will be at grid parity before any of these “backyard”, “vaporware” nuclear power plants come on line.
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