Solar farm owner and developer stocks are publicly traded companies who develop or manufacture equipment that converts sunlight into other types of useful energy.  Includes manufacturers and developers of both solar photovoltaic and solar thermal equipment, as well as their supply chain.

This list was last updated on 3/21/2022.

See also the list of Solar Manufacturing Stocks, the list of Residential Solar Stocks, and solar and wind inverter stocks.

7C Solarparken AG (HRPK.DE)
Abengoa SA (ABG.MC, ABGOY, ABGOF)
Acciona, S.A. (ANA.MC, ACXIF)
Adani Green Energy (ADANIGREEN.NSE)
Algonquin Power and Utilities (AQN, AQN.TO)
Atlantica Yield PLC (AY)
Azure Power Global Ltd. (AZRE)
Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF.L)
Boralex (BLX.TO, BRLXF)
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (BEP)
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)
Capital Stage AG (CAP.DE)
Clearway Energy, Inc. (CWEN, CWEN-A)
Edisun Power Europe AG (ESUN.SW)
Etrion Corp. (ETX.TO, ETRXF)
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)
First Solar Inc (FSLR)
GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (3800.HK)
Iberdrola, S.A. (IBE.MC, IBDSF, IBDRY)
Infigen Energy Limited (IFN.AX, IFGNF)
Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IENOVA.MX)
Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (INE.TO, INGXF)
JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS)
Greenbriar Capital Corp. (GRB.V)
Guggenheim Global Solar ETF (TAN)
Neoen S.A (NEOEN.PA)
New Energy Exchange Limited (EBODF)
NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NEP)
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE)
Northland Power Inc. (NPI.TO, NPIFF)
Panda Green Energy Group Limited (0686.HK)
Premier Power Renewable Energy (PPRW)
Principal Solar (PSWW)
Renesola Ltd. (SOL)
ReNew Energy Global plc (RNW)
RGS Energy (RGSE)
Scatec Solar ASA (SSO.OL)
Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited (1165.HK)
Sky Solar Holdings Ltd. (SKYS)
Solar Wind Energy Tower (SWET)
Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente, S.A. (SLR.MC, SEYMF)
Sunpower (SPWR)
Sunvalley Solar, Inc. (SSOL)
Sunworks, Inc. (SUNW)
Terraform Power, Inc. (TERP)
The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG.L)
US Solar Fund PLC (USF.L)
UGE International (UGE.V)
Vivint Solar (VSLR)
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company (YGEHY)

If you know of any solar farm developer or owner stock that is not listed here and should be, please let us know by leaving a comment. Also for stocks in the list that you think should be removed.

The post List of Solar Farm Owner and Developer Stocks appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

This list was last updated on 6/6/2022.

Solar manufacturing stocks are publicly traded companies who develop or manufacture equipment that converts sunlight into other types of useful energy.  Includes manufacturers and developers of both solar photovoltaic and solar thermal equipment, as well as their supply chain.

See also the list of Solar Farm Owner and Developer Stocks, the list of Residential Solar Stocks, and solar and wind inverter stocks.

5N Plus Inc (VNP.TO, FPLSF)
Amtech Systems Inc (ASYS)
Array Technologies, Inc. (ARRY)
Apollo Solar Energy (ASOE)
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc (ASTI)
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)
DAQO New Energy Corp. (DQ)
First Solar Inc (FSLR)
GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (3800.HK)
Guggenheim Global Solar ETF (TAN)
Hanwha Q CELLS Co., Ltd. (HQCL)
Iberdrola, S.A. (IBE.MC, IBDSF, IBDRY)
Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IENOVA.MX)
JA Solar Holdings (JASO)
JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS)
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (LDKYQ)
LG Electronics Inc. (066570.KS)
Mechanical Technology (MKTY)
Meyer Burger (MBTN.SW, MYBUF)
REC Silicon ASA (REC.OL)
Scatec Solar ASA (SSO.OL)
Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited (1165.HK)
SolarWindow (WNDW)
SolarWorld AG (SRWRF)
Spire Corporation (SPIR)
STR Holdings, Inc. (STRI)
Sunpower (SPWR)
Sunvault Energy, Inc. (SVLT)
SwissINSO Holding Inc. (SWHN)
Timminco Ltd (TIMNF)
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company (YGEHY)

If you know of any solar manufacturing or supply chain stock that is not listed here and should be, please let us know by leaving a comment. Also for stocks in the list that you think should be removed.

The post List of Solar Manufacturing Stocks appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

The last post highlighted several companies in the alternative energy, conservation and environment technology fields that have delivered exceptional price performance over the last year.  Prospects for growth in sales or earnings appeared to be key drivers of the price movement.  It makes sense to seek indicators of growth as cues for those companies that may become tomorrow’s price movers.

Crystal Equity Research’s novel alternative energy indices were a good place to go on a ‘quest for growth.’

Beach Boys Index  –  Biodiesel

The two analysts who publish estimates for Renewable Energy Group (REGI:  Nasdaq)apparently expect a surge in growth in the current year followed by a leveling off in the long-term.  The forecast five-year compound annual growth rate is 15%.  What is driving the growth?  The company has just completed expansion of their biodiesel plant in Ralston, Iowa to 30 million gallons per year from the previous 12 million gallons.  The Ralston plant is one of the company’s 13 biomas-based diesel refineries with a total effective production capacity of 565 million gallons per year.

Renewable Energy took on debt to finance the expansion project.  Total debt at the end of March 2018, was $332.8 million, giving the company a debt-to-equity ratio of 42.92.  The leverage has helped drive return on equity to 21.4% in the most recent twelve months.  The company is profitable, delivering an 8.0% operating profit margin.  That should help pay down rent.

Electric Earth Index  –  Wind

Broadwind Energy (BWEN:  Nasdaq) has won attention from only one analyst, but that individual has a great deal of confidence in the company prospects in the wind energy industry.  Expectations are for growth to accelerate next year to over 800% following by a leveling off to 24% compound annual growth over the next five years.  The company manufacturers towers used for wind turbines as well as industrial applications.  Broadwind recently booked $10 million in new tower orders.

While Broadwind’s topline shows great promise, profitability has been an issue for the company. Operating cash flow has not always been positive.  In 2017, operations used $9.4 million in cash resources. Fortunately, the previous year had been a year of strong cash generation with operating cash flow totaling $17.3 million.

Broadwind shares are trading closer to its 52-week low price.  If growth unfolds as is predicted by the consensus estimate, strong comparisons should help drive the stock price.

Mothers of Invention Index  –  Efficiency Technology

Aerovironment (AVAV:  Nasdaq) produces energy efficiency systems and unmanned aircraft.  The consensus estimate suggests the five-year compound annual growth rate is expected to be 30%.  This represents nearly a tripling in growth compared to the last five years when growth averaged about 10% per year.

In April 2018, the company introduced a new charging system for electric forklifts. Aerovironment also won orders from the U.S. Army for its Switchblad Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System.  Total hardware awards were $67.8 million with deliveries beginning in December 2017 and extending through September 2018.  An additional $43.3 million in service contracts were also signed for a period of three years.

Aerovironment earned a 12.4% operating margin in the twelve months ending January 2018.  Sales-to-cash conversion was 10.4%.  With a business model with this level of efficiency, new orders translate to strong earnings.

The Atomics Index –  Solar

Analysts have predicted a 34% five-year compound annual growth rate for Canadian Solar (CSIQ:  Nasdaq).  This represents a significant pick up in pace from the last few years.  The company’s 35 megawatt solar portfolio in India reached commercial operation in March 2018.   Canadian Solar is not stopping there.  Construction on an 8 megawatt solar project in South Korea will begin in early 2019.  The company is the top foreign solar module source in South Korea.  The two projects are exemplary of Canadian Solar’s expansion in the global solar power sector.

Canadian Solar earned an operating profit of 7.9% on $3.4 billion in total sales in 2017.  The company is well leveraged with a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.82.  This has helped drive return on equity to 10.5%.  Fundamental successes have helped drive the CSIQ stock price to a level just off the company’s 52-week high.

As CSIQ  price movement reveals, growth prospects alone cannot be the early indicator for investors.  Relative value may be as important.  In our next post we look at company that offer strong value.

Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein.

The post Rapidly Growing Alternative Energy Companies appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

by Garvin Jabusch

The first two weeks under the Trump administration have been a shock to the system. With the change in administration, how will you approach your stock portfolio(s)?

For starters, your fundamentals should remain unchanged. For me, that means looking for great companies in expanding markets that are enabling long-term economic growth, and reducing systemic risks. Of course, this also means buying these stocks at low valuations. Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett were right about ‘wonderful companies at fair prices.’ That is never going to change.

With that said, let’s look at what has changed and what to do about it.

Unpredictability that’s the first quality worth noting about the new White House team’s leadership style. Trump’s comments and actions concerning topics such as open global trade, immigration and the US-China relationship will cause uncertainty, to which markets usually do not respond well. George Soros recently emphasized this point, adding, “Uncertainty is at a peak, and actually uncertainty is the enemy of long-term investment. I don’t think the markets are going to do very well.” 

It is true that in the short time since Trump’s election, markets have rallied. Traders perceive that uncertainty has actually decreased because the election cycle is over, and they believe a Trump administration will benefit business by removing regulations. The possibility of fiscal stimulus via infrastructure something a Republican Congress never let Obama do has also rallied markets. But as we witnessed on 1/30 and will likely continue to see, uncertainty’s retreat will prove to be an illusion. 

For example, markets have largely appeared to accept the positive business aspects of Trump’s rhetoric but equally, so far, to discount the negatives, such as the possibility of a trade war. Trump also promises to roll back financial oversight and regulations such as Dodd-Frank, which raises the specter of possible asset-bubble deflation, a la 2008. Good markets should not be confused with a stable investing environment.

Beyond Soros, other qualified observers, such as Eliot A. Cohen and Ruth Ben-Ghiat have noted that there is enough personal and political capriciousness swirling within this White House that the consequences could extend far beyond market implications. We should not make the mistake of not taking seriously the administration’s actions over its first two weeks.

So, portfolio defensiveness is clearly warranted. What that means for an individual investor’s portfolio, I leave to your best judgement.

Yet the inevitable market volatility will present opportunity, both in buying oversold securities as opportunities arise, and also in making investments that benefit from volatility itself.

Trump’s worldview often contradicts global momentum, and this can present buying opportunities. Energy policy is a prime example of this. The global transition away from fossil fuels toward renewable energies is now clearly underway. Nevertheless, the Trump administration’s attempts to prolong the fossil age a few more years may meet with some success. It is possible that gas and oil may be about to enter their last, large bull run. If this is the case, some investors may see this as a short-term opportunity, before the much bigger opportunity in being short fossil fuels indefinitely (or until it’s time to cover). For those looking to grow their portfolios beyond the next couple of years, a much larger opportunity appears companies that are trailblazing toward the interconnected, sustainable economy.

Trump’s actions also spell out the need for diversification in light of U.S. political risk. While Trump has removed all references to climate change from whitehouse.gov, approved the Keystone XL and DAPL pipelines, canceled all EPA grants, and caused the CDC to cancel its climate change and health conference, he can’t stop the global momentum of renewable energy (worth a post on its own stay tuned).

So, how does an investor respond? As a fund manager, this looks objectively to me like any other case of political risk in a given country, underscoring the importance of a diversified portfolio. Saudi Arabia has policies against beer? Vatican City has ethical restrictions on imports of contraceptive devices? Maybe place less weight on companies trying to sell those products into those markets. Obviously, these examples are extreme to the point of absurdity, but they illustrate my point about political risks and diversification, because both beer and condoms have huge markets in other geographical areas that can be exploited for investment return. My examples are also less than apt in that there is today a booming market in the U.S. for both wind and solar but, considering both the words and actions of Trump and his administration, it seems only prudent to capitalize on renewable energies’ opportunities in companies with large global distribution networks and thus are not overly reliant on U.S. distribution. Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY), and JinkoSolar (JKS) come to mind. Renewable energies worldwide are booming, and if the U.S. chooses not to participate fully in these industries, at least our portfolios can.

There may be opportunities in renewable infrastructure under Trump’s watch, as he pushes to develop transmission capacity from windy middle America to the coasts.

We are now, as much as at any time in recent memory, embarking upon an uncertain landscape, both culturally and economically. More than ever, investing requires a long view into how the economy is most likely to evolve, regardless of short- and medium-term gyrations, wild and scary as those may become.

In short, that means figuring out what’s next. What’s next in energy? In tech? In consumer goods? The way to earn returns over the long term entails investing in firms that are leading the way to the future, holding and accumulating shares through volatility, and looking for value.

Note: A version of this post appeared previously on Worth.com.

Garvin Jabusch is
cofounder and chief investment officer of Green Alpha® Advisors, LLC. He is co-manager of the Shelton Green Alpha Fund (NEXTX), of the Green Alpha Next Economy Index, the Green Alpha Growth & Income Portfolio, and of the Sierra Club Green Alpha Portfolio. He also authors the Sierra Club’s green economics blog, “Green Alpha’s Next Economy.”

The post The Trump Trade appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Doug Young

Bottom line: Canadian Solar’s raised revenue guidance hints at rising prices and could signal upside for the company’s profits, while YIngli’s latest signals may show it’s trying to sell itself to a healthier rival.

The strongest and weakest players from China’s lively solar panel sector are in the headlines today, with superstar Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) and the struggling YIngli (NYSE: YGE) both releasing their latest quarterly results. But whereas Canadian Solar has just announced its financials for this year’s first quarter, including a raised revenue outlook for 2016, Yingli is just now releasing its results for the fourth quarter of 2015.

Most companies typically release their quarterly results within 60 days of the quarter’s end, or 90 days at the very latest. But YIngli’s ongoing struggles have led managers to say several times the company could become insolvent, as it sits on a massive pile of maturing debt that it can’t repay. The latest of that debt comes due today, and Yingli is saying it’s unlikely to make the repayment on time.

We’ll return to YIngli later, but let’s begin with the more positive story of Canadian Solar, which is one of the best-run of China’s major solar panel makers and has managed to stay profitable despite difficult conditions in the global solar market. Canadian Solar wasn’t exempt from the ongoing stiff competition, and reported its revenue fell 16 percent in the first quarter to $721 million. (company announcement)

Eroding margins also caused the company’s net income to fall by more than half to $23 million, from $62 million last year. But in an encouraging sign, Canadian Solar raised its revenue guidance for 2016 to between $3 billion and $3.2 billion, versus previous guidance of $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion. At the same time, it kept its actual module shipments forecast unchanged, meaning it expects prices to be stronger than it initially anticipated.

Investors were quite excited by the outlook, with Canadian Solar shares rising 12.4 percent after the report’s release. Canadian Solar has found a strong formula for boosting sales by building solar power plants and then selling them to long-term owners after completion. It filed late last year to make a New York IPO for its plant-building unit, Recurrent Energy (previous post), though the plan appears to be on hold for unspecified reasons.

Looming Default

While the outlook is positive for Canadian Solar, the opposite has been true for Yingli. The company first warned last year that it faced the risk of insolvency, after rising to prominence on a business model that relied on selling low-tech panels at cheap prices. In its latest report Yingli posted a massive 5.6 billion yuan loss ($865 million) in last year’s fourth quarter, or about 4 times its loss a year earlier. (company announcement)

In one slightly encouraging sign, Yingli forecast its shipments this year will total 2.6 gigawatts to 3 gigawatts, representing an actual expansion from nearly 2.5 gigawatts for all of 2015. But the positive news ended there, and investors focused on the part of its report where Yingli discussed its looming default for 1.4 billion yuan worth of bonds that come due on May 12. The company also failed to repay 30 percent of a another 1 billion yuan bond that came due last October, meaning it now needs to find 1.7 billion yuan to repay its maturing debt.

In its latest report, Yingli repeats its previous assessment that it will be difficult for to repay either of the bonds by May 12, and adds it is in ongoing discussions with the bond holders. (English article) None of this is particularly unexpected, which is perhaps why YIngli shares only dropped a modest 1.2 percent after the report came out, giving it a tiny market value of about $60 million.

In a potentially interesting new development, Yingli says in that it is exploring various options that could include the introduction of new investors or lenders to help it repay the debt. That suggests that perhaps Yingli is trying to engineer a sale of itself to a healthier company, which would then take responsibility for negotiating for debt relief with its creditors.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.. He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

The post Canadian Solar Boosts Outlook; Yingli Hopes For Sale appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Doug Young

Bottom line: Canadian Solar’s Recurrent Energy unit is likely to make its first public filing for a New York IPO in the next 2 weeks and should get a positive reception, while Jumei is likely to quietly de-list from the US in the next 3-4 months.

One of the few Chinese IPOs likely to happen in New York this year is moving closer to the launch gate, with word of major new financing for the power plant-building unit of solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ). But while that IPO for Recurrent Energy moves closer to the IPO gate, announcement of a new privatization bid for online cosmetics seller Jumei International (NYSE: JMEI) is far more typical for the market these days.

This pair of stories reflect a growing new reality for US-listed Chinese companies. That reality is seeing some of China’s leading private companies choose New York for their listings, banking on interest from global investors seeking to buy into the China growth story. At the same time, many smaller lesser-known Chinese companies listed in New York have discovered US investors are far less interested in their stories, and are privatizing with plans to re-list and hopefully get higher valuations back in China.

Canadian Solar and Jumei quite nicely summarize this divergence. Canadian Solar is emerging as China’s best-run and most innovative solar panel maker, and has attracted strong investor interest as a result. It continued its industry-leading posture last year with its purchase of Recurrent Energy, reflecting a growing trend that is seeing solar panel makers move into power plant construction to boost demand for their products.

Late last year Canadian Solar disclosed it had submitted its first confidential filing for a New York IPO by Recurrent Energy, in an effort to separate that part of its business from its core panel-making. (previous post) Following that disclosure, the company has announced a steady stream of new plant-building loans to show that Recurrent can secure the funding it needs to build new plants that typically cost $50 million or more.

Previous loans have been for relatively small amounts in the $30-$100 million range from big global names like RBS and Deutsche Bank, and now the company has just announced a $300 million loan from China’s own Ping An Bank. (company announcement) This particular announcement is significant for its size, and also for its source. Ping An is one of China’s more entrepreneurial major banks, and this announcement reflects a relatively big vote of confidence in Recurrent and also hints at a new plant building campaign in China.

Public Filing Coming

We have yet to see any public filings by Recurrent Energy since Canadian Solar disclosed the IPO plan in early December. But I suspect this new financing is aimed at creating more buzz around Recurrent, which is mentioned by name in the announcement. That indicates we could see the unit make its first public filing for a New York IPO to raise $100-$200 million in the next week or two.

Next there’s the Jumei story, which nicely summarizes the disappointment that many Chinese companies have felt on Wall Street after holding out big hopes for US listings. The company made its IPO nearly 2 years ago during a frenzy of new offerings, pricing its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at $22. But after seeing an initial surge, the stock has moved steadily downward as investors lost interest, and now it trades at just $6.21.

The shares were trading even lower at $5.11 just last week, but rallied after Jumei announced a management led buyout plan to take the company private at $7 per ADS. (company announcement; Chinese article) There’s not much more to say about this deal, except that Jumei management is getting a good deal by buying its shares for one-third of their original IPO price. I expect this deal will probably close with little or no opposition, and the company will quietly bow from the US and attempt to quickly re-list on one of China’s growing number of boards for private high-growth companies.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.. He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

The post Recurrent Energy and Jumei: A Tale Of Two Listings appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Bottom line: Major new financing for Recurrent Energy and Apple’s growing partnership with SunPower reflect technology advances that are making solar power plants increasingly competitive with traditional sources.

Two solar power plant builders are in the headlines today, reflecting a shift that is seeing this new generation of companies take the spotlight from older solar panel makers that are desperately seeking new buyers for their products. The first headline has solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) announcing that its Recurrent Energy plant-building unit has secured financing for a major new US project, as Recurrent gets set for its own New York IPO as a separate company. The second story has US-based SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) emerging as the main partner for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) recent ambitious plans to build solar power plants in China.

The bigger picture behind both of these stories is that plant builders like Recurrent and SunPower could emerge as the next hot tickets in the solar energy sector. That’s because these companies are quickly gaining expertise in the field of solar plant construction and operation, and could benefit from a future boom when such plants should finally become commercially competitive with plants powered by traditional fossil fuels.

Let’s begin with the news on Recurrent Energy, which was purchased this year by Canadian Solar for $265 million, and earlier this month made its first filing for a separate listing in New York. (previous post) According to Canadian Solar, Recurrent Energy has just received a sizable $260 million in new financing for its 100 megawatt Astoria solar power project in California. (company announcement)

Financiers for the project include the new energy financing unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), as well as a banking consortium that includes Spain’s Santander Bank and the Netherlands’ Rabobank. Completion of the plant is set for the end of next year, and I expect that much of the equipment for its construction will come from GE and Canadian Solar. Recurrent will become the plant’s long-term owner and operator upon completion.

This particular deal marks the fourth partnership for a US plant this year between Recurrent and Santander. Recurent’s growing stable of high-profile partners underscores its strong credentials as a major builder of solar power plants, and is undoubtedly aimed at raising its profile in the run-up to its IPO that could come by the end of this year.

SunPowered by Apple

Next there’s the SunPower news, which details the company’s role in Apple’s plans to become a major builder of solar plants in China. Apple first announced those plans back in April, saying it would build plants with 80 megawatts of capacity in partnership with SunPower. (previous post) It later sharply boosted that total, with a target of building plants with 200 megawatts of capacity. (previous post)

Now SunPower is coming out with its own announcement saying it will build 3 solar farms in China’s Inner Mongolia region with a total capacity of 170 megawatts. (English article) Upon completion of those plants, SunPower will become one of the long-term owners, alongside a Chinese investor and a third, unnamed party that is most likely Apple.

This particular announcement indicates that SunPower is likely to become one of the main partners in Apple’s unusual push into new energy. This initiative is someone unusual for Apple, better known for its smartphones and computers, but is part of a broader campaign to improve its image in China. If the strategy works well in China, SunPower could benefit if Apple decides to expand the program to other countries.

At the end of the day, both of these news items appear to show that solar plant construction is finally gaining some momentum, as reflected by backing from big names like Santander, Rabobank and Apple. That change reflects improving technology that is helping to boost solar energy’s competitiveness, and could help to power SunPower’s shares and also boost sentiment for Recurrent Energy’s upcoming IPO.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.  He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

The post Recurrent Energy And Sunpower Charging Up appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Bottom line: Weak share reactions to upbeat news from Trina, ReneSola and Ming Yang reflect investor skepticism towards new energy stocks, as they face lingering issues of overcapacity and phasing out of government subsidies.

A flurry of upbeat news is in the headlines today from 3 of China’s largest new energy equipment makers, led by a return to the profit column for solar panel maker ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) after a year in the red. At the same time, wind power equipment maker Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) also announced its latest quarterly results that were quite upbeat, and solar panel maker Trina (NYSE: TSL) said it obtained a modest new financing from some major global lenders.

But contrary to expectation, investors greeted the string of upbeat news by dumping shares of all 3 companies, reflecting a high degree of skepticism in the market. Ming Yang led the downward migration, with its shares slipping 3.7 percent after it announced its latest quarterly results. Its shares now trade more than 17 percent below the price for a previously announced buyout bid to take the company private.

ReneSola shares didn’t fare much better, shedding 1.5 percent after it announced its return to the black. Trina did the best of the trio, with its shares only closing marginally lower after it announced it received $90 million in new financing in two different facilities from US banking giant Wells Fargo and Britian’s Barclays Bank.

It’s worth noting that shares of all 3 companies are all well above lows reached back in September when skepticism about the sector’s future was highest. But a looming end to state subsidies for new energy power plants in many major markets is creating worries that these manufacturers could struggle if their products can’t become more competitive with conventional energy sources.

Ming Yang highlighted that potential risk in its otherwise upbeat quarterly report, which showed that its profit jumped nearly 30 percent in the third quarter to 91.5 million yuan ($14.4 million), as revenue grew slightly to 1.7 billion yuan. (company announcement) The improved profitability came partly on rising prices, even as the company warned that China was likely to phase out wind power subsidies over the next 5 years.

ReneSola Returns to Black

Next there was ReneSola, which reported its return to the profit column in this year’s third quarter after a year of losses. Most of China’s solar panel makers sunk into the loss column during a major sector downturn 4 years ago, but the stronger ones have all managed to return to profitability and stay there over the last 2 years.

ReneSola returned to the profitable club with its announcement of an $8.6 million net profit in the third quarter, reversing a $2.3 million loss in the previous quarter. But the return to the black came as the company also posted a slight year-on-year decline in quarterly revenue, reflecting its new focuses on building power plants with less emphasis on boosting output.

Last there was Trina, which announced it has received credit facilities worth $60 million and $30 million from Wells Fargo and Barclays, respectively. (company announcement) Neither sum is particularly large, but the more important signal is that Trina could get such private sector funding at all. Until recently, many of these panel makers were forced to look to government sources for funding, and were largely shunned by commercial banks due to their shaky financial position.

All that brings us back to the original issue of the latest market sentiment towards these companies, as they search for formulas to ensure their long term survival. There’s clearly a big degree of skepticism towards the group, which is facing double challenges of overcapacity and pressure from changing government policies. Some of the stronger names like Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) still look like good bets over the longer term, though we probably still need to see some consolidation before the broader sector can be said to be back on solid footing.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 15 years, much of that as a journalist for Reuters writing about Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University. He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

The post Growing Market Skepticism Towards Chinese Renewable Energy appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Doug Young

Bottom line: New York IPO plans by a Canadian Solar unit and Solar Power Inc could auger a new wave of similar listings by Chinese new energy power plant builders, offering investors a higher growth alternative to traditional utilities.

Just a day after solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) announced it has spun off its fast-growing solar power plant-building unit for a US listing, another China-based peer is discussing plans for a similar IPO. This time a company called Solar Power Inc is the one disclosing plans for a New York listing to raise up to $300 million, in an emerging trend that’s seeing the rise of a new generation of specialty solar energy plant builders and operators.

A secondary trend in this sudden spurt of new activity also looks encouraging for New York, which has become a pariah these days among Chinese companies that feel US investors are undervaluing their stocks. These 2 new listing plans by Canadian Solar and now Solar Power acknowledge that New York is still an attractive option for certain kinds of Chinese companies, which I’ll address towards the end of this post.

First let’s take a closer look at the new media interview that quotes Solar Power CEO Roger Ye discussing his plans for a $300 million New York IPO at an unspecified future date. (English article) While Ye doesn’t give a timetable, the fact that he’s discussing his plan and giving a fund-raising target probably indicate that Solar Power has hired an investment bank and hopes to make an offering in the next 12 months.

Set up at the start of this year, Solar Power is a China new energy play that clearly operates in the area of solar power plant construction and ownership. The company was founded by 2 leading Chinese entrepreneurs, one from the online gaming sector and the other in real estate.

The company originally hoped to secure much of its money through crowd funding sources that let individuals invest as little as 1,000 yuan ($160) each. But this latest move seems to show that the micro-funding approach probably isn’t raising as much money as the company’s founders originally hoped. That’s not a huge surprise due to relatively low return rates from power generation projects in general that might fail to excite many smaller investors.

Global Aspirations?

One analyst points out the move to list in New York shows that Solar Power wants to become a global plant constructor, though I do suspect the company will initially mostly build plants in its home China market. That contrasts a bit with the more globally-focused Canadian Solar, which this week announced it will spin off its own solar plant construction unit and list it in New York. (previous post) I speculated that offering could raise at least $100 million, but Solar Power’s figure could indicate that Canadian Solar’s target could be a bit higher.

Traditional solar panel makers have been some of the most abused companies on Wall Street over the last 3 years, which makes it somewhat surprising that these 2 new listings are both being proposed for New York. Solar Power’s Ye cites the greater stability of US capital markets for his selection of New York over China, and that’s certainly true. What’s more, Chinese investors are unlikely to show much interest in these companies, since their rates of return are quite steady in the mid- to high single-digit rates.

That means these companies’ stocks are unlikely to get the double- or triple-digit growth that many Chinese punters like to believe they can get in their local markets that are more like casinos than serious financial markets. By comparison, the US has a large field of mature institutional investors that like to buy more conservative but dependable assets like electric power utilities. These new solar plant operators would provide an interesting new product in that space, offering investments with higher risk but also return rates and growth potential than traditional electric utilities.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 15 years, much of that as a journalist for Reuters writing about Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University. He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

The post China’s Solar Power Inc Eyes $300 Mln NY IPO appeared first on Alternative Energy Stocks.

Doug Young

Bottom line: Canadian Solar is likely to target at least $100 million in an IPO for its power plant-building unit before year end, which could be an attractive investment alternative for buyers of traditional utility stocks.

Just days after announcing big new financing for its unit focused on solar power plant construction, Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is taking a big new step by disclosing it is preparing an IPO to separately list that unit. The move marks the latest wrinkle in the evolving story for Chinese solar panel manufacturers, which are quickly becoming their own best customers by selling their products to solar plants that they build themselves.

Canadian Solar and some of its peers have actually engaged in this kind of plant construction for a while, though the pace has picked up in the last couple of years. But the latest trend marks a divergence from the past, since Canadian Solar and others are now becoming long-term owners of the plants they build and putting them into wholly-owned units that look like a solar equivalent of traditional power utilities. In the past, Canadian Solar and the others would simply build solar plants, and then sell them to independent long-term owners upon completion.

Canadian Solar has emerged as a leader in this particular trend, and one of my sources tells me that the next company that’s likely to announce a similar development is JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS). But others are also working on similar plans, with a longer term aim of diversifying their business and providing their core panel-making units with a more reliable stream of sales for projects that they self-develop.

Canadian Solar’s statement is quite brief, and simply says that it has submitted a confidential filing with the US securities regulator that would be the first step towards an eventual IPO. (company announcement) The company adds that no decision has been made on how many shares would be sold, or how much it would like to raise. Such an offering would most likely come of the Nasdaq, where Canadian Solar’s American Depositary Shares (ADSs) currently trade, probably by year end.

This particular announcement comes less than a week after Canadian Solar announced it had just landed $100 million in new financing from Credit Suisse, with an option to borrow another $100 million. (previous post) It said part of that money would provide bridge financing for solar power plant builder Recurrent Energy, following Canadian Solar’s announcement earlier this year that it would buy the company for $265 million.

Recurrent Energy IPO

Based on these 2 recent announcements, it appears that Canadian Solar is centering its new solar plant construction unit around Recurrent Energy, and will inject some of its other solar plant assets into the unit. What’s more, it appears the loan announced last week will serve as temporary financing for Canadian Solar’s purchase of Recurrent until the IPO. That would indicate that Canadian Solar is probably hoping to raise at least $100 million from the IPO, and then use the proceeds to pay off the Credit Suisse loan.

Investors weren’t too impressed by the new announcement, with Canadian Solar shares rising slightly during the latest session in New York. Part of that may be because this deal has been rumored for the last few months. And that said, the shares are up nearly 50 percent from a late-September low, as investors take new interest in some of China’s solar panel makers with good prospects of surviving a second round of industry consolidation.

From an investor’s perspective, this kind of move certainly seems like a relatively positive development for Canadian Solar and others who follow a similar path, since it will help to stabilize their business. The new IPO could also be an attractive alternative for people who like more conservative investments in the power utility sector. The biggest risk is government policy, since most of these new plants are dependent on inflated government-set tariffs to operate profitably. But if technology continues to improve, which seems inevitable, it’s quite possible this new generation of plants could operate profitably without government support at some point in the next decade.

Doug Young has lived and worked in China for 15 years, much of that as a journalist for Reuters writing about Chinese companies. He currently lives in Shanghai where he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University. He writes daily on his blog, Young´s China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments at Chinese companies listed in the US, China and Hong Kong. He is also author of a new book about the media in China, The Party Line: How The Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China.

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