Solar Energy: What You Need to Know

From Despite Financial Crisis, Clean Energy Firms Seek Capital:

Until it filed for bankruptcy protection last week, Lehman [Brothers] had been a popular underwriter for companies raising funds, by issuing shares or borrowing money. The investment bank's collapse prompted statements from companies such as SunPower (SPWR Quote) Evergreen Solar (ESLR Quote) explaining the financial impact of Lehman's fall.

Investors said the market's turmoil will likely suppress any appetite for initial public offerings for now. Solar- and wind-energy companies also will likely find it difficult to raise money in the near future to build power plants or factories.

Some companies don't want to wait until the markets stabilize. LDK Solar (LDK Quote), for example, announced last week that it intended to raise $200 million.

Read the full version of Despite Financial Crisis, Clean Energy Firms Seek Capital. (Related: On Aug. 29, the Associated Press reported that China-based LDK Solar projected its 2009 revenue to be between $2.8 billion and $3 billion.)

From For Solar Stocks, Cash Flow Is King:

Many of the publicly traded solar companies have built up substantial debt already, making banks even more reluctant to extend them new loans. SunPower, for example, had $225 million in long-term debt at the end of the June quarter, while Evergreen had $108 million.

Maybe solar companies can raise capital through the debt market, relying on convertible bonds to fuel their growth. But as with stock offerings, one has to wonder how exactly this is going to work.

We're down to two independent bulge-bracket firms [Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) and Morgan Stanley (MS Quote)] -- and they may not be as bulletproof as we thought. They also face the daunting task of peddling bonds to a market that is suspicious of even the top-rated companies, let alone smaller, younger companies with a lot of risk built into their business model. And that is what we have with solar.

Because for all the promise of growth facing solar energy, it has an awful lot of threats.

Read the full version of For Solar Stocks, Cash Flow Is King (RealMoney access required).

Sliding Oil Won't Sink Solar (Video, Sept. 19)

Falling oil prices are dragging down solar stocks, but Tom Zarella, CEO of GT Solar (SOLR Quote), says the alternative energy business will weather the storm.

To watch the video, click the player below:

Plus, don't miss this recent solar-focused video on TheStreet.com TV: China Watch Mail Bag: Solar Sense (Sept. 20: One viewer is particularly interested in Solarfun Power (SOLF Quote), China Sunergy (CSUN Quote) and Yingli Green Sunergy (YGE Quote). Staff writer Chuck Marvin gives his pick of the litter, plus some other solar picks he likes a little bit more.)

From Analysts Pick 2009's Solar Winners: Suntech:

"The year 2009 could start to show signs of bifurcation between long-term winners and the companies with a 'me-too' strategy in the solar sector," wrote Lazard Capital Markets analyst Sanjay Shrestha of Lazard Capital Markets in a research note Friday [Sept. 5].

Jeff Osborne, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Parners, has already aired his pick of winners.

"We see Suntech (STP Quote) (high volume, low cost), SunPower (high performance and vertical integration), and First Solar (low cost, high volume) weathering the storm well," Osborne wrote in a research note.

Read the full version of Analysts Pick 2009's Solar Winners: Suntech.

From Thin-Film Solar Set to Take Market Share:

"The thin-film [photovoltaics] sector is going to make a major impact on the overall growth of the PV industry in the next five years," wrote authors Sorin Grama and Travis Bradford, both of the Prometheus Institute. "It will change the economics to customers, trigger a more competitive landscape for all solar-energy technologies and force capital markets to assess and adapt yet again to a changing solar landscape."

Read the full version of Thin-Film Solar Set to Take Market Share.