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To: Lynn who wrote (71)	1/4/2008 11:00:04 AM
From: Lynn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 230

Investor's Business Daily Some Solar Stocks Expected To Remain Hot Wednesday January 2, 6:07 pm ET Brian Womack Many solar company shares shot skyward in 2007, making them among the hottest stocks . IBD's Energy-Other group, heavy with solar companies, currently ranks No. 1 of the 197 industry groups tracked. The 75-company group is up 70% since mid-August. Rankings are based on stocks' price performance in the last six months. All nine of the top-rated companies in the group are solar-related, and IBD gives all of them a Relative Strength Rating of 99, the highest possible. The RS is based on price performance in the past 12 months. "The solar sector has done extremely well," said Brion Tanous, an analyst with Merriman Curhan Ford. "It's seeing tremendous growth." Analysts question whether the group can keep up this pace in 2008. There's much room for growth, but solar companies must continue to depend on government incentives. Old energy sources are still cheaper. Stock prices have been volatile. It's not uncommon to see stocks in this sector surge, or fall, by 10% or more in one day. Solar-product makers First Solar (NasdaqGS:FSLR - News), SunPower (NasdaqGS:SPWR - News) and Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE:STP - News) have emerged as sector heavyweights. All have U.S. market capitalizations that top $10 billion. That's more than such household names as bookseller Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS - News) and battery maker Energizer Holdings (NYSE:ENR - News). The high valuations have helped attract mutual funds and other institutional buyers to the solar game in the past three to six months, analysts say. Many funds only invest when companies hit market caps of $5 billion or $10 billion and daily trading volume of 1 million or more. Besides, many solar companies are in the black and growing earnings. Solar stocks also enjoy the unique position of being a pure-play investment for clean-energy companies in the U.S. Unlike Europe, wind energy and other green investments are harder to find on the U.S. markets. General Electric (NYSE:GE - News), for example, is one of the largest makers of wind turbines, but that unit makes up less than 15% of GE's total sales. "There are more investment dollars ... chasing clean energy," said Michael Carboy, an analyst with Signal Hill Capital. "Green energy and cleantech really is an enduring investment theme." Photovoltaic solar products take the energy of the sun and convert it into electricity. Groups from homeowners to utilities use the technology. Solar industry sales are expected to jump to $69.3 billion in 2016 from $15.6 billion in 2006, says analyst Tanous. The industry is scrambling to improve its technologies so that it can cut its power costs by half by early next decade. That would put it near the price of traditional electricity and free it from the need for government incentives. In the meantime, solar demand is strong in many places, especially where incentives have been heavy, including Germany and Spain. Italy, Greece and parts of Asia also have been stoking demand. The U.S. expansion has been led by California's aggressive solar program. Additionally, the federal government has been giving some tax credits to solar projects. The tax credits run out at the end of 2008, but Congress might extend them. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, says solar energy's installed capacity rose by 70% in 2007 in the U.S. He sees it rising another 50% to 80% in 2008. "2007 was really the year of solar energy in the United States," Resch said. Still, the prospect of government incentives beyond the near term is iffy, says Colin Rusch, an analyst at Broadpoint 19ecurities. "To predict the market past 18 months is very difficult," he said. One thing is certain: The industry is facing shortages of the key material used to make solar cells, a type of silicon called polysilicon. Some analysts don't see the shortage working itself out until 2009 or later. Polysilicon prices have risen to around $400 per kilogram from roughly $35 per kilogram earlier this decade, says Mark Bachman, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. He says prices should fall to less than $100 at some point. The situation has companies working to land long-term supply contracts, analysts say. Companies with close ties to suppliers, such as JA Solar (NasdaqGM:JASO - News) and Yingli Green Energy Holding (NYSE:YGE - News), have seen big stock moves because they might be able to ramp up production faster than others. The supply shortage has helped suppliers of the material, including investor favorite MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR - News). Its stock more than doubled in 2007. Some companies say investors should look beyond any possible supply shortages. First Solar, which saw its stock rise by more than 700% in 2007, has gained attention by avoiding the shortages. The company uses little or no silicon to make its cells. First Solar has also managed to ramp up production faster than expected -- and is finding new ways to improve the efficiency of its solar technology. "They had a lot of things go right for them this year," Rusch said. "They were able to get efficiency gains." Another favorite is SunPower. It uses less polysilicon than others, according to analysts. It also boasts some of the most efficient solar cells in the industry -- meaning it gets the most electricity from its solar cells. biz.yahoo.com

To: Lynn who wrote (71)	1/4/2008 11:30:40 AM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 230

I have to say, I saw that MF article and think it is one of the worst articles they have ever written. Almost everything they said was wrong or irrelevant.

To: Lynn who wrote (71)	1/4/2008 12:28:00 PM
From: Eric	Respond to of 230

Lynn Thanks for the news. My favorite PV stock is First Solar. They do not use any silicon and that gives them a tremendous advantage at this time. The BIGGEST problem for almost all of the remaining manufacturers is that they base their PV's on Si. The industry has been and continues to be constrained by a lack of Si ingots and wafers for the production of Si based panels. If you were to ask me what panel I would put on the roof of my house (if cost was not a consideration)it would be SunPower's panels. Demand has increased so much around the world that panel prices are actually continuing to rise. I was hoping that prices would start dropping this year but demand still keeps rising faster than production. We need more refined Si! REC actually built a plant in Eastern Washington in Moses Lake to take advantage of the cheap hydro power we have here in Washington. There are a few start up PV panel manufacturers also in Western Washington that hope to take advantage of REC's output. The holy grail of this industry was to get to some scale to drop costs. That alone has really dropped prices and will continue to in the future. (At least up til 2003 and German demand!) When I look at the entire carbon fuel area costs have only one way to go... UP. Convergence is going to happen sometime late next year for the price of PV to beat carbon fuels. When that happens utilities will back up the truck. The ongoing problem will continue to be meeting demand. A nice position to be in. The best web site to monitor the entire Solar industry is: solarbuzz.com They have a good weekly newsletter chock full of good information and industry news.