How to Turn The Polysilicon Supply Problem Into a Profitable Solution (Part 1) Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2007-10-15 00:28:12 Photo:bibliogrrl, Creative Commons, Flickr
It looks like the glass is always half full at chip equipment giant Applied Materials (AMAT - Last trade $21.04). The company's Chief Technology Officer, Winfried Hoffmann, said in a recent Reuters interview that he expects tight supplies of polysilicon, a key component in solar cell production, to ease from this year. He projects that the market for solar power will grow by 25%-30% over the next 3-5 years due to the lower costs associated with expanded polysilicon supplies.
How to Turn the Polysilicon Supply Problem Into a Profitable Solution (Part 2) Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2007-10-22 22:54:26 As an alcoholic, the first step to recovery is to admit that you are an alcoholic. The same principle applies to Wall Street banks in the aftermath of the recent credit crunch: the first step to recovery is to disclose the size of losses during the recent market turmoil. At the start of October, several banks disclosed their losses, with the Citigroup CFO saying that they were returning to a “normal earnings environment”. These confessions sparked a rally in global stock markets as investors decided that Wall Street banks were on their way to recovery. But we, at The Panelist, are not popping the champagne just yet – it seems likely that solar companies will suffer from a nasty hangover when the dust settles.
We can keep bickering about the carbon emissions of industrialized nations, but that won't get us far. Environmentalists are wasting their time by hugging trees and buying hybrid cars. Installing solar panels or building wind farms is great, but these are only band-aids. I believe it is more productive to treat the cause and not the symptom, and short-termism is the main cause of our environmental problems. My argument here is simple: We don't have much time to address climate change, and if we are going to limit the damage from climate change we need to address the cause (short-termism) as soon as possible, and not waste precious time and resources by treating the symptoms.
In These Trying Times, Keep Your Head Above Water Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2008-09-01 03:30:56 Photo: wester, Creative Commons, Flickr
Looking for a way to trade the credit crisis? Boring! That's so last year. Jump in and trade the water crisis. Over the last year, power-hungry politicians and lazy journalists (myself included) have been blaming greedy speculators for the dramatic rise in oil prices, and it's just a matter of time until we start blaming them for rising water prices. I hope that happens sooner rather than later.
