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Gold/Mining/Energy : Suntech Power Holdings Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (80)	6/3/2010 11:43:39 PM
From: Eric	Respond to of 82

Suntech Stumbles with Pluto Production will stay at 4 megwatts a month. Suntech Power Holdings said Thursday it has run into difficulties making its high-efficiency Pluto solar cells, raising the possibility of a delay in this next-generation technology. The Chinese solar giant said the problems arose in ramping manufacturing beyond its present monthly pace of 4 MW. As a result, the company said it decided to maintain this relatively modest production level - probably two factory lines - until it works out the technical kinks. The move is a blow for Suntech as it begins to transition to this key technology and catch more efficient solar developers, particularly mass-market efficiency leader SunPower. It also could be a setback to Suntech's hope of pushing Pluto beyond it present 19 percent average efficiency to a 20 target. Rumors have percolated in the last two weeks about Pluto problems. One installer told Greentech Media recently that Suntech told them not to expect delivery of Pluto panels until the third quarter or so. Another said Pluto panels have been discussed since late 2007, but not seen. Suntech pulled back on production goals in 2008 due to the economic collapse, but in 2009 and early 2010 the company remained somewhat optimistic. In March, execs said capacity in Suntech's plant for Pluto modules would rise to 450 megawatts by the end of the year.Suntech at the time said it would produce around 30 megawatts by the end of the first half and 120 to 150 megawatts in the second half. On a first quarter conference call with analysts today, Suntech Chief Technology Officer Stuart Wenham described the hang-ups as "small glitches" common when transferring a new technology to large-scale module production. "In the course of ramping Pluto production to levels well above the current 4 MW a month, we have identified process control challenges to module production," Wenham said. He added: "We have gained a great deal of experience since we began producing commercial quantities of Pluto cells." Suntech says it remains pleased with the cell's performance and claims nothing is wrong with the Pluto design. Yet Pluto's average cell efficiency remains at 19 percent, with the best yielding cells reaching 19.5 percent. Both are well above the market average of 17.5 percent, but the company first achieved 19 percent efficiency as far back as early 2009. Suntech is "fully confident Pluto will become our core product and the industry benchmark for high-performance and cost-effective solar panels," Wenham says. The Pluto design is based on the PERL, or passivated emitter with rear locally diffused, technology developed at Australia's University of New South Wales, where efficiencies of 25 percent have been achieved in the laboratory. It has low reflectivity to capture more sunlight and thinner metal lines to reduce shading. While the technology remains promising, Suntech said in a difficult to interpret announcement that it recently began a new solar research initiative with the University of New South Wales and Silex Solar to improve the efficiency and cost of cells. The research received a $5 million grant from Australia. The company also kicked off a collaborative effort with Swinburne University of Technology on nanoplasmonic cells. Suntech describes both efforts as complementary to its work with Pluto. Because of its high efficiency, Pluto commands a premium price in the market and customer demand appears to be high. Yet production is far from the 450 MW Suntech plans for the middle of its fiscal year. When the problems are resolved, the company promises production will increase rapidly and engineers are reportedly convinced they can meet the target. On the conference call, Suntech said a weak Euro contributed to a 14 percent fall in average product prices in its first quarter. The prospect of continued weakness led its shares down 3 percent. Suntech does 68 percent of its business in Europe. greentechmedia.com

To: Sam who wrote (80)	8/6/2010 10:21:07 AM
From: Eric	1 Recommendation Respond to of 82

Suntech Abandons Thin Film, Wafer Experiments The crystalline silicon giant pays out cash. Why fight crystalline? Suntech Power Holdings said revenue for the second quarter would come to $620 to $630 million, higher than the $588 million pulled in in the first quarter and slightly higher than analysts' expectations. Gross revenue will come in at 17.5 to 18.5 percent. The big news, however, is that Suntech expects a loss of $147 to $179 million. The loss comes due to charges paid to wind down two side experiments: amorphous silicon panels and and investment in wafer maker Shunda. Closing down the amorphous project will result in $50 to $55 million in charges while Suntech will pay $106 to $126 million to Shunda. Suntech has experimented with thin film for a while and the results haven't been pretty. A big part of the reason has been the decline in crystalline silicon solar panels. Why make less efficient thin films when crystalline panels sell for $1.85 a watt? Suntech has had three thin film experiments underway. It bought an Applied Materials SunFab system for making amorphous silicon panels. SunFab, however, resulted in high priced amorphous panels that weren't as efficient or cheap as panels off competing equipment. Several Applied customers had already been experiencing problems when Applied decided to exit thin film itself. Late last year, Suntech also quietly bought a controlling interest in CSG Solar, which makes crystalline silicon-on-glass modules. In March, Suntech chief marketing officer Steve Chan told us that CSG was being retooled. "It [CSG] had made product and shipped it commercially, but it is no longer produced because the ASPs (average selling prices) have fallen so low," he said. "They are retooling the product to make it more cost-effective." CSG had raised $35 million from VCs in 2009 before solar prices plummeted. In March, Chan told us Suntech had an unnamed thin film project that was incubated in-house. Whether the announcement today impacts all three thin film experiments or just the SunFab amorphous effort is unclear, but there is a good chance that all three don't have long to live. Branching out doesn't seem to be a company forte at the moment. Gemini Solar, a Suntech joint venture that develops solar power plants, landed a comparatively small 30-megawatt plant announced a little over a year ago but has largely been inactive since. Gemini has undergone several changes since then too, according to sources, and not for the better. It's hard to say what the scope or target date of that project is. By contrast, First Solar and SunPower have racked up multi-megawatt deals in North America and Europe. greentechmedia.com