Atlernative energy stocks

[RAY]

OT: Speaking of energy I just bought some CNX, Consol Energy.

I bought it as an Alternative to Natural Gas. Good Old Coal!

Anyway I do own BLDP and PLUG. They have not been good investments for me.

Good Luck

 

[MRWSM]

How about a highly speculative one that has it's hands in alternative energy like fuel cell and solar energy, also it's a Nano Tech stock. Like I said very speculative.

ALTI which is currently 2.65

 

[Mecro]

Quote from rowenwood:

What is the scarce material, or mats, and who is the main supplier? Thanks.


Could it be that this mat is scarce because the oil comps are manipulating supply?

Like I said, for the specifics you gotta do research.
As for the supply, I think it is just that the interest in solar power has not been significant.

 

[murray t turtle]

Quote from rowenwood:

I'm interested in alternative energy sources especially alternative fuel. If you have any good ideas or references. A list or a sector?

=======================

Rowenwood;

I'll keep my eyes open for that.

 

[rowenwood]

If you're interested in investing in wind turbines then you should read through the following links. In summary, wind turbines seem to be great investments, better than solar panels.

The ROI is supposedly had after "6 to 15 years." After ROI one then generates free electricity, and sells any excess to an electrical company.

A home system cost is in the range of $3-5,000. The cost depends on the size and installation.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/renewables/marketing/2002-04-26_WIND_GUIDE.PDF
http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/index.cfm
http://shop.altenergystore.com/index.asp?CartId=9356668YW-EVEREST-RDX876&FCat=1&FSCat=+++++++4

 

[rowenwood]

Quote from Mecro:

I do not know the exact specifics since I do not have the tons of books and files that my friend does. But the bottom line is that the raw material demand to make solar panels has skyrocketed in the last few years. It was unexpected by both ESLR, BP, Sharp as well as the raw material suppliers. Solar panels are high end high tech products. You cannot just pump them out like cheap little toys and the core parts are somewhat rare.

Originally, solar power was viewed as a hippy fad for the Southwest. However, with government subsidies and rising energy costs, more and more people are getting solar panels. Just look at San Diego and California. In Arizona, there are self sufficient houses already.

A year or two ago, NJ passed a 50% rebate program for the solar installations for homes and businesses. The demand was absurd. My friend cannot get enough supply to meet the demand. Meanwhile, companies like ESLR who could barely meet the previous demand, cannot hand this new influx. They get to pick and choose their clients since they cannot supply them all. Clients are upbidding the prices for the panels.

If you want more info, research solar panels themselves and also read through some of the ESLR news reports. They constantly refer to the inventory issue as being a major hinderance.

Regarding a big wholesome alternative energy players, I would look no further than British Petroleum. But it's too overpriced IMHO. I already did an options play with that company. Long term investment hold, BP makes sense unless they start screwing up.

Bought a little ESLR at 2.69.

 

[stevebec]

Quote from rowenwood:

What is the scarce material, or mats, and who is the main supplier? Thanks.

The preferred source for solar cells is wafers that failed the QC from the semiconductor industry. Once demand exceeds that supply, you have to use non-rejected wafers, which are considerably more expensive.

I saw an article a couple of months ago in EE Times about an European company (Siemens? ST?) that was doing research on cheap photovoltaics. They had found some materials that were about 1/2 as efficient as silicon, but only cost 1/10 as much, reducing your cost by about 80%, and pushing the electricity cost below the cost of fossil fuels. I think that in the not too distant future, solar power will be cheaper than other sources and net-metering systems will become much more common.