Daqo New Energy’s first quarter 2011 financials show the company increasing their revenues, income and polysilicon shipments over 2010’s fourth quarter results, but the company still holds a conservative outlook for its second quarter 2011. Revenues for Q1 amounted to US$87.3 million, a 6.6% increase over Q4 2010. The company acknowledges that its revenue growth can be credited to an escalation in its polysilicon sales, which amounted to 1,089MT during Q1.
Ion implant market leader Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates will be acquired by Applied Materials for approximately US$4.9 billion. The deal is said to enhance Applied’s product offerings for transistor formation for front-end semiconductor processing as IC process complexity, transistor scaling and 3-D design implementation require complete and integrated product and process offerings. The deal also offers Applied new market opportunities in solar, display and light emitting diodes, where Varian has made significant investments in recent years to broaden implant technologies market opportunities. Varian reported last week second-quarter 2011 revenue of US$330 million.
Solar investments were hot in the first quarter, even if overall PV market demand cooled considerably; according to the latest quarter report on US venture capital (VC) investment in cleantech companies from Ernst & Young. Solar-based companies received US$362.7 million in new investments in the first quarter of 2011, up 162% compared to the same period a year ago. This accounted for 39% of the total dollars raised for the quarter, which is compiled from data provided by Dow Jones VentureSource.
A massive 150MW PV project to be built in Arizona by Zachry Industrial will use Advanced Energy Industries (AE) ‘Solaron’ PV inverters and its ‘SafeGuard’ service program. The project would be one of the largest of its kind so far built in the US and is slated to begin construction in mid-2011 with completion in 2013. AE is also to be the inverter supplier at a 35MW project in California with Cupertino Electric.
Energy firm, Constellation Energy is to acquire ground-mounted PV power plants at multiple sites being built by Belectric in Sacramento, California. The projects, which are expected to be commercially operational by the end of 2011, will use 81,000 First Solar CdTe thin-film modules, totals 30MW (DC) of solar generation. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Deutsche Bank has selected Vishal Shah as its managing director for its US-based alternative energy and semi cap equipment divisions. One of the leading solar market analysts, Shah will come to Deutsche Bank from Barclays Capital. He previously worked as a senior vice president with Lehman Brothers where he managed the research coverage of the solar and semi cap equipment divisions. Additionally, Shah served as a research analyst at Morgan Stanley and in his early career worked with Needham & Co.
JinkoSolar has simultaneously announced its unaudited first-quarter 2011 financial results and the appointment of Ron Kenedi as the president for its wholly owned JinkoSolar US subsidiary. As the company comes off a record setting first quarter with solar product shipments reaching 208.4MW and revenues totaling US$326.7 million, Kenedi is anticipated to keep the US division growing and profitable.
Much weaker than expected demand in Europe impacted PV inverter manufacturer, Satcon Technology’s first quarter financial results. Although Satcon posted record revenue of US$62 million for a first quarter accounting period, the revenue figure was below initial projections of US$65 million to US$70 million. Some shipments were postponed to later in the year by some of its customers due to an inventory build, executives noted in a conference call to discuss financial results. Net loss for the first quarter was US$2.1 million.
Citing a slowdown in module sales and prising pressure in the first quarter of 2011, Evergreen Solar has declared that its near term liquidity has been negatively impacted, which could lead the company to find new sources of cash sooner than expected. The struggling String Ribbon module producer said shipments were only 18MW in the first quarter, down significantly from 47MW in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Lincoln Renewable Energy (LRE) has finalized the sale and project finance deal with Macquarie Energy worth US$41 million. The agreement sees Macquarie Energy enter a long-term purchase agreement for power and renewable energy credits from LRE’s New Jersey-based 10MW Oak Solar PV project. LRE will remain the long-term owner of the facility, while Macquarie Energy provides construction finance and term debt for Oak Solar.
