March 28, 2007
Cracks begin to show...
Looks like we are starting to get into the next phase of the cycle...that which separates the commodity players from the rest.
With ATS announcing the withdrawal of its IPO for Photowatt, with Canadian Solar announcing poorer results in the last quarter, this related group may be the first victim of the "commodity" play. ATS announced it may be reconsidering its Spheral Solar activities. Its no secret that this whole venture is a classic case of a technology working in the lab but not being produceable in the context of new thin-film technologies which are now coming up to speed. Spheral was around since 1981 when Texas Instruments launched it and nobody has made it work to date. I suspect that it will be the final nail in its coffin now that the IPO is gone. ATS/Photowatt is a smart company who makes good product, so I'm sure that they will be making moves in the context of the "new realities" and will simply adjust "expansive" plans and replace them with more moderate and sustainable ones.
As for other crystalline-based solar power suppliers in the industry, we are finding increased availability of crystalline cells and as a result dropping prices. Once in a while I see an article talking about continued shortages of silicon, yet I'm not feeling that in the marketplace. The key now is to see who will have a strategy to get through this next phase, and who will not.
I know ICP Solar has, and is showing its stripes publicly and with pride. We are taking on new clients and even taking some old ones back (stay tuned!). The key is that lasting value remains our theme and this is a one which requires investment and continuous improvements as the markets demand more of its suppliers.
Sass
Posted by sass at 02:00 AM | Comments (2)
March 20, 2007
Take me out to the solar park...
News comes today that San Francisco will have the world's first solar powered baseball park..
This is testament to how incentives provided by the government to do "the right thing" can lead to renewable technologies being "competitive". Its actually a fallacy to really compare coal or oil to solar since there are hidden subsidies to the oil industry, while subsidies to the solar industry are transparent.
I wonder if they'll only be able to hit the ball when the sun is out :)
Sass
Posted by sass at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2007
One man's garbage is another's....home?
Under the continuing dominant topic-du-jour of climate change, comes more ecological genius.
A man in a stenchy river, filled with fouled garbage, has found a way to turn that garbage into a house! !
Leave it to a brazilian, home of the world's most powerful ethanol industry, to come up with such an inventive idea. If necessity is the mother of invention, then clearly this man deserves a prize, and in fact is getting just reward through tremendous local recognition and now huge international publicity.
Perhaps if the story gets out to those in need, some of them too can use his methods to create suitable homes from completley recycled materials to house their families. Of the many stories which you see me linking to my blog entries, this is one which I do hope gets passed on so that it may perhaps reach ONE person who can use it to their advantage.
Sass
Posted by sass at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2007
SHOW (Solar Hydrogen Oxygen Water) TIME !
News today of a $0 cost home using solar and hydrogen built by a private individual in New Jersey!
Now we must admit that we would not think of NJ as the hub of eco-friendly power, yet you must know that New Jersey is in fact quite progressive in its support of solar power.
The builder of the home in the link above did it on his own, sinking $250,000 (net of subsidies) into his estate to build a completely self-sustaining home, totally disconnected from the grid!
This is proof that it can be done, although I will bet that the cost factor must come down by a factor of 10 before we get mass adoption. So my guess is that by 2020, we'll see this combination of technologies in a fair percentage of new homes...
Sass
Posted by sass at 12:01 AM | Comments (1)
March 14, 2007
Bloggin' Oscars...
It was just a matter of time before blogs became celebrated. Here is a link to an article on Blog Awards.
With 175,000 new blogs created each day, its no wonder the internet is credited with the democratization of media. Those that rise to the top will be the ones that stand out (as usual). As for mine, visits are increasing at a rate of about 20% per month and the mix of people who are commenting (either on the blog or emailing me) is very interesting. I've now got to add shareholders to the list of people who look for my blog to be informative, invigorating, thought-provoking and reflective of not only myself, but also ICP Solar.
CEO blogging has its risks and rewards, yet as this article's title states its a fine balance between being careful and boring.
Sass
Posted by sass at 02:00 AM | Comments (1)
March 10, 2007
Conservation and Creation
The drive to reduce dependency on fossil fuels took another upward swing this week with the announcement in Europe of agreement on targets to boost use of renewables to 20% of power by 2020.
What is additionally significant is that there are draft laws that may also doom the incandescent bulb to its grave since it is recognized that fluorescents, and the upcoming LED technologies, are far more efficient and can play a significant role in reducing power consumption, and thus carbon emissions (from the oil burning technologies).
This reminds me of the philosophy I have been professing at ICP Solar which is that every little bit counts. You don't have to buy a solar system for your home at $50,000 to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Simply using a small solar system (like our Sunsei models) to reduce battery failures or the use of grid-electricity, even in such small contributions, can build up when you consider that hundreds of thousands of people are doing the same.
Don't mean to sound like a commercial for our solar power products, yet the truth is that you don't have to wait until solar power is competitive with other sources, you can get on the bandwagon today. As long as you deal with a brand you can trust, you'll be sure to be doing your bit, as well as benefiting from solar power's convenience.
Sass
PS> I am now searching for my next car and have determined to search the category by "most green". "Walk the talk" they say...
Posted by sass at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2007
Bush's Brazil Bio-deal...
Word comes that the Bush administration is negotiating a bio-ethanol alliance with Brazil, the world's leader in renewable energy. Many people in fact think that countries like Germany or Japan are the world leaders, yet the fact is that while they may lead in solar power, the country of Brazil has for a long time moved its economy towards energy independance through the creation of a complete infrastructure delivering bio-ethanol across every city and highway in Brazil.
In reading article linked above, it struck me how the USA has a 0.54per gallon import tariff against Brazil's ethanol, in order to protect the American farmers now growing the seed of ethanol (corn) while also protecting the high price of regular oil-based fuels.
Just one question hit me...what happened to the word "free trade"? Is it only relevant when the developed country is dominant or desirous of cheap commodity supply which is could not otherwise produce?
Sass
Posted by sass at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2007
The need for speed...
Anybody remember when Bill Gates stood up many years (probably decades) ago and said that technology was going to make our lives simpler? OK, so do anyone of you feel that technology has simplified your life...or has it made it more complicated?
Everything today is faster, and the expectation of response time is not anywhere what it used to be. I remember when over 20 years ago I worked for my father's company and bringing in the telex was revolutionizing the speed of information. We were hesitant to use it (due to cost), yet it changed the speed with which answers could flow. The fax was an immediate document (as quickly as you could type the page or write it and then put it into the machine). Email came next and then people started sending more jokes than serious work communication. And then finally we got SMS and IM messaging for the most instant gratification money could buy.
Do we have overload? Will you wait TWO DAYS for an email to be responded to as this article implies? I'm not so sure that even as it was being published, it had not already become obsolete. I know that if my team doesn't get a reply from me in two days (without expecting that I am offline which happens but twice a year) they get worried.
Technology addicition, overload or dependency. Call it what you wish...it has NOT made our lives simpler Bill. Rather it has blurred work and play, rest and drive. It means that as we got faster, so did our competitors, vendors, customers, shareholders...and thus all that happened was that the expectation of response went skywards.
I think the day we can relax is the day when we need not think anymore. The implants will carry our thoughts at lightening speed across the galaxies and we'll just sit and veg with our virtual lives. What a sad thought.
And so leading from these thoughts, I made a decision...I am shutting off my laptop on Saturdays. I will not respond to emails on Saturdays unless a deadline may be missed or a project flow will be affected by my non-response. For those who know me, this is a HUGE decision, yet frankly speaking, as my good friend Laurent says "balance is king", and I'm feeling today that I have lost a bit of it to the technology race.
Shabbat shalom (aka "have a peaceful Sabbath"),
Sass
Posted by sass at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2007
Solar Spanking
The plunge in stock markets of the past week, led by a melt-down in China, has put into question the ability of chinese RE stock to maintain the levels at which they are currently priced.
Many of the chinese stocks were smartly priced at IPO level based on "last year's performance indicating future earnings" which is inaccurate in a market which is moving from high overdemand to somewhat oversupply. The drop in module pricing by about 10-15% has shown that margins are squeezing, as evidenced by the recent quarterly reports of Chinese solar companies, like Canadian Solar (CSIQ) as one example.
Buyer beware, even in a blue sky market. Without distinction, companies will be shooting each other in a commodity market, and only the strongest and most agile will survive.
Sass
Posted by sass at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)