July 2011

July 22, 2011

CEEG SST Solar – Review of CEEG Solar Monocrystalline Modules (180,250W) Prices,Specifications and Comparision

CEEG or China Electric Equipment Group Corporation is based in Nanjing, China and is a China state owned company.Chinese Solar Panels have captured more than 50% of the global market for crystalline solar panels and the biggest solar panel producers are from China.CEEG is one of the top 15 Chinese solar module manfacturers and sells solar panels under the CEEG Brand.Like its name implies the CEEG Group has a major presnse in the electrical equipment market and 3 of its 4 divisions operate in this segment.The company is also listed on the NASDAQ under the CSUN symbol alongwith a host of other Chinese panel producers like Trina,Yingli,Suntech,Canadian Solar and others.CEEG’s power transformers and PV products have been qualified for CCC, UL and EU certifications.It recently lanuched the Quasar range of high efficiency solar panels.In 2004, CEEG got engaged in the PV industry and established China Sunergy (formerly CEEG Nanjing PV-Tech Co., Ltd).CEEG has 4 solar panel production factories and 600 MW of production capacity.CEEG was originally a solar cell producer and seller before getting into the manufacture of solar panels in 2009 though acquistions of 2 small solar module producers.
July 15, 2011

Phono Solar Review of Panels,Generators and Kits – 1800 Generator too Expensive

Phono Solar is a JV between Phono Technologies Switzerland and Sumec Group of China.Phono’s parent company SUMEC Group has been in the PV industry from early 2004. Sumec and Sinomach family of companies claim to have $15 billion in revenues each year.SUMEC Group Corporation (SUMEC), founded in 1978, is a key member of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH).SUMEC’s core business consists of shipbuilding and project contracting of complete equipment and engineering; the R&D, manufacturing and export of machinery and electric products including power tools, garden tools, power machinery Phono Solar’s three production facilities will produce more than 500MW of PV Modules in 2011.The products are widely used in many fields such as power station, telecom, transportation, lightening, broadcasting, civil defense, marine etc.The company's products are made in China and marketed by the Swiss company under the Phono Solar Brand.The Company also sells micro wind turbines which are used in small residential installations.
July 10, 2011

Liquid Bees ETF Explained – Price,Dividend,Taxation,Performance History,NSE Symbol

Goldman Sachs Liquid Exchange Traded Scheme (GS Liquid BeES) is an open ended liquid scheme & was previously known as Liquid Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme (Liquid BeES). GS Liquid BeES is the first Liquid ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) in the world. It is a unique liquid fund that is listed and traded on the stock exchange just like a share. The investment objective of GS Liquid BeES is to enhance returns and minimize price risk by investing in a basket of call money, short-term government securities and money market instruments of short maturities while maintaining safety and liquidity. It seeks to provide current income, commensurate with relatively low risk while providing a high level of liquidity, primarily through a portfolio of treasury bills, Government Securities, Call Money, Collateralised Lending & Borrowing Obligation (“CBLO”) /similar instruments, Repos and Reverse Repos, and other Money Market Instruments.
July 10, 2011

Nuclear Energy Companies,Stocks to Invest In Complete List (Utility,Reactor,Waste,Uranium)

Nuclear Power has come under assault in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident with Nuclear becoming a four letter word.However Nuclear Energy cannot be ignored because its nuclear energy uses are unique in some applications and cannot be substituted by any other means.Nuclear Energy is responsible for generating almost 1/6th of the global production of electricity with Developed Countries like Japan,Europe and USA having 20% or more of their electricity being generated by Nuclear Fission.Currently 31 countries in the world have nuclear reactors producing electricity.The total installed nuclear generating capacity in the world is around 375 GW (WNA) with another 170 GW in planning g state and another 170 GW being proposed.Despite the massive opposition that nuclear power has run into,nuclear companies and nuclear power stocks are not going away soon.This is because of the massive installed base and the nuclear plans of emerging countries.For example Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia,UAE are going ahead with their nuclear power plans as are countries like India and Vietnam.
July 10, 2011

Mutual Fund Companies in India – Front Running Underperformers? Also Mutual Fund Industry Marketshare

Mutual Fund Companies have seen a steady growth driven by the growing financial assets being generated by the fast growing Indian economy.But the Mutual Fund Industry like other sectors such as Real Estate and Telecom too has come under the spotlight for some illegal activity.While you can't call the industry corrupt because of some fraudulent activities it does raise questions on the industry ethics.Top Mutual Funds in the country like HDFC and L&T have been fined by the stock market regulator SEBI for front running.For those who don't understand what the term means,front running is an illegal activity whereby a fund manager or fund official makes personal gains by making trades on his account before doing a trade for the fund.This causes losses for the fund investor and is akin to stealing.However like other corrupt practices in the stock market industry,SEBI lets them go with small fines which don't deter more such frauds.It is also not unknown that some fund managers connive with company promoters and market operators to rig and do circular trading.Not only is this a problem,another massive problem with the industry is its underperformance as compared to the benchmarks.While earlier mutual funds were known to outperform the benchmarks like the Nifty,a recent Crisil study has dispelled this myth.Given these disadvantages of mutual fund ,it is time to invest in Indian ETFs though not a lot of variety exists in the Indian stock market yet.
July 10, 2011

Wave Energy Companies,Stocks List – Wave Power Startups Profilerating in Edinburg (UK),Oregon (USA),Ireland,Australia

Wave Energy is one of the niche Water Energy Technologies that is still in its infancy stage in terms of technology maturity.Wave Energy has been around a long time with around 350 patents being granted for this technology and around 200 startups working on this renewable energy form.Wave Energy basically derives power from the movement of waves to generate electricity or power.Wave Power exists due to the differences in the speed of ocean water and wind power.The energy is transferred by the Wind Energy to the Waves which can be utilized to generate power.A wide variety of wave energy generators like buoys,underwater devices are being developed to harness the power of the waves in a cost efficient manner.Wave Energy Research is concentrated mainly in the United Kingdom which has made tidal and wave power central to meeting its 2020 European goal for renewable energy.Edinburgh in UK has become a center of wave energy development and EMEC has developed Cornwall as an important site for demonstration of wave energy projects.Some of the wave power companies are listed on the stock market as well.Due to the technology immaturity ,most of these stocks are micro cap and not an investible class for big investors.
July 8, 2011

Advantages of Solar Panels – for Home and Businesses

Solar Panels are fast becoming one of the fastest growing products for homes in the western world driven by the 75-80% reduction in the costs of solar panels in the last 3 years.The sharp reduction in the costs of solar panels has been driven by the improvement in efficiency of solar panels,increase in scale by Chinese solar panel manufacturers,solar equipment sophistication and advancements in the learning curveAlso the importance of Solar Energy keeps growing with the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster,Coal Mine Deaths,BP Oil Spill constantly reminding us the dangers of Coal,Oil and Nuclear Energy.On the other hand Solar Panels lead to no deaths directly or indirectly and are incapable of causing large scale disasters..Solar Panels these days are being made by a wide variety of manufacturers in different shapes and sizes.Different types of solar panels are also being made from different materials like silicon,CIGs,CdTe etc.Solar Panels are also finding uses in outdoor camping,boats,swimming pools,solar carports etc.Besides solar panels are also being used to power off grid systems in far off areas plus mobile phones and laptops.The advantages and uses of solar panels are growing by the day.Solar Power's greatest advantage is the declining cost which had made solar electricity from panels on par with grid retail electricity prices in places like Italy and Germany.With costs continuing to go down,its easy to see that solar panel generated power will reach the electricity prices in most places in the world in 2-3 years.
July 8, 2011

Cosmetic Companies in India (Revlon,Estee Lauder,Avon) List – Middle Class Turbo Boosting Beauty Cosmetics Industry

India has faced a revolution literally in all wakes. With the rise in dispensable income, there is high consumerism in the country. With opening up of the emerging markets, the cosmetic companies are broadening in response to the vast diversity of populations. The Indian face wants to look good. The Indian Women are no longer limited to their homes, but have come out & are walking with the same pace as the men. Hence they are more conscious of their looks & are widely opting for the cosmetics that is available in the market. It is not only the female section of the society, who use beauty & cosmetic range but the Indian men too are worried about their looks. There are lot of products specially designed for men too. The cosmetic companies not only produce the traditional makeup items like compact, mascara or lipsticks, but are rapidly adapting themselves to the changing demands of its customers. Today the markets offer a wide range of cosmetic products to choose from. There are smart products like anti-aging solutions, concealers which has taken a lady's beauty to a new level. Fragrances, body lotions, hair products, hand & foot care products, you name it & you have it. There are products to suit each age group & each requirement.
July 8, 2011

Reliance Gold ETF – Review of Performance(NAV History,Symbol),Holdings,Expense Ratio,Investing in SIP

Reliance Gold ETF is an open-ended Gold Exchange Traded Fund. It started on 22nd November 2007. The investment objective is to seek to provide returns that closely correspond to returns provided by price of gold through investment in physical Gold and Gold related securities .The prices of Reliance God ETF is affected by several factors such as global gold supply and demand, investors’ expectations with respect to the rate of inflation, currency exchange rates, interest rates, etc. Minimum of one unit can be traded by the investors.The Creation Unit is 1000 units that is if you have 1 kg of gold ETF that is about Rs 26 lakhs you can exchange your paper gold into physical gold from the AMC.
July 8, 2011

GE Solar Inverter(Brilliance),Panels (Efficiency,China) Review of Technology,Manufacturing and Comparision

GE is one of the biggest companies in the world and has one of the biggest Green businesses as well.GE is the most profitable wind turbine manufacturer and is one of the largest renewable energy developers in the globe as well.GE like other electrical and power conglomerates like Siemens has decided to invest billions of dollars into Green Energy.Till recently Solar Energy had gotten scant attention from GE just like Siemens too has not invested a lot.However the 50% CAGR rates of Solar Energy,the fast declining costs have made it imperative for GE to have a presence in this market.GE had bought a thin film solar company Prime Solar a few years ago to acquire the Cadmium Tellerium Technology which First Solar uses in its Solar Panels.
July 8, 2011

Silver ETF India (ICICI Direct,NSE,Kotak,SBI,HDFC) – How to Buy the Best,Taxation,Comparison vs Physical Silver

Silver ETFs in India have started making their debt after the rip roaring success of gold etf funds in India.All the major mutual fund houses in India have launched gold ETFs as a large part of the investing population has made ETFs the preferrred vehicle for investing in Gold.Their are 12 gold ETFs in India which is far the largest sector ETF in India.In fact,ETFs in India are marked by their lack of depth and variety.There are only a handful of decent ETFs in India which have good volume and liquidity though more asset management companies are coming out with ETFs.Goldman Sachs recently bought Benchmark AMC which has the most successful gold ETF and the biggest Nifty ETF in India.India Infoline is also targeting ETFs to boost its AUM.
July 8, 2011

Sunlink Solar Panels Review of Prices,Manufacturers and Comparison

Sunlink Solar Panels are manufactured by a small company Jiangsu Sunlink PV Technology Co,.Ltd based out of China with module production capacity of 200MW.Note there are many Chinese companies of this size and a major shakeout is occuring in the industry with a number of smaller companies shutting down their production solar panel lines as prices have gone down by 40% amidst a solar module inventory glut.Some US based solar panel producers like Evergreen and Solyndra have gone out of business and many others are on the verge like Arisa Technologies.SunLink PVwas founded in 2004 and they sell 5W to 300W both monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels.They have IEC61215 Ed.2, IEC61730, UL1703 certificates.
July 8, 2011

Xantrex Solar Inverter,Battery Charger Review – Understanding the Company,Prices and Models (400,3000) (Australia,USA)

Xantrex Inverters are one of the most popular brands of solar inverters used in residential installations and come in a wide variety of models.Xantrex was one of the first companies to exclusively manufacture inverters for the photovoltaic market.The company was originaly based out of Canada and listed on the Toronta Stock Exchange.The company has offices in in the United States, Germany and Spain and China.The fortunes of the company changed when it was bought over by one of the biggest power equipment companies Schnieder Electric.However the solar inverters from Xantrex have retained their brand name even after the acquistion.Note Xantrex also manufactures solar inverter chargers and solar battery chargers .Xantrex focuses on the power electronics for boats, recreational vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, utility and automobiles.
July 8, 2011

REC Solar Panels,Modules Review of Sale Prices,Specs (Recall in 2008)

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC ) is one of the biggest European solar companies and is completely vertically integrated.What that means is that REC makes all the components in the crystalline silicon supply chain from polysilicon to wafers to cells and modules.REC was earlier primarily a polysilicon and wafer producer but it is not becoming more active in the solar panels area.REC Silicon and REC Wafer are among the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers, respectively, for solar applications.This is the reason that REC solar panels are in general cheaper than other European and Japanese solar panels like Solarworld,Sharp,Kyocera and others.Due to the high cost of production,REC has shut down its factories in Norway and is mainly producing solar cells and solar modules at its new solar complex in Singapore.REC Solar has production facilities around the globe but it is concentrating its production in Asian factories.Despite stiff competition from Chinese solar panels which has led to bankruptcy of numerous solar companies in the West,REC is well capitalized and should be one of the survivors of the current solar price wars.As such the warranty on the solar panels from REC should hold good for the 25 years.
July 8, 2011

Advantages and Disadvantages of Life Insurance – Pros and Cons of Variable,Universal,Term Life Insurance and Investments

Life Insurance is one of the most widely available and used financial products being used by people.But before buying various types of life insurance such as variable,term life insurance not many people do a pros and cons analysis.This is quite sad since it is one of the biggest yearly expenses and is one of the most important security assets for our family in case of death or serious injury.Life Insurance has different meanings in different countries as well.In India Life Insurance is mostly looked upon as an investment product.Most people buy insurance as an investment product leading to the wide prevalence of hybrid insurance investment products like ULIPs ,Child Plans etc.It is easily found that these hybrid products are wasteful since it would be cheaper to buy separate investment and insurance products.The main reason for the misselling is the financial illiteracy and ignorance about the advantages and disadvantages of life insurance and its products.Life Insurance Companies also don't do a very good job in educating people about the right type of product as it is more profitable for them to sell the products which are disadvantageous to the customers.So we have a case where Life Insurance products advantages and disadvantages are not known and understood by most people around the world.
July 8, 2011

Pros and Cons of Nuclear Weapons – List of Facts and Debate

Nuclear Weapons are a massively controversial topic with the opposition towards Nuclear Weapons handily beating the supporters of these arms of mass destruction.Nuclear Weapons have been foretold as humankind killers since their development during the Second World War by USA.With the erstwhile USSR developing these nuclear weapons as well,a Cold War developed between the 2 superpowers.The War was Cold as both sides possessed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over.Despite strong arguments against nuclear weapons,most of the developed nations including the most powerful ones like USA,Russia,UK,France and China have refused to abandon nuclear weapons.There have been many movements for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons which can destroy mankind as we know it.However except for the START reduction of nuclear weapons by USA and Russia nothing much has been achieved.In fact new unofficial nuclear weapon powers like India,Pakistan and Israel have joined the Nuclear Club.South Africa too had developed nuclear weapons before abandoning the idea.Rogue nations such as North Korea are said to have developed nuclear bombs while Iran too is trying to make nuclear weapons to counter USA domination of the Middle East. Most of the arguments against nuclear weapons are too vehement and extremist to get an idea whether nuclear weapons have any advantages if at all.A listing of facts about nuclear weapons is necessary for kids to get an idea about the dangerous cons of nuclear weapons.While there is no doubt that everyone would like to completely remove nuclear weapons from the world,there are benefits which nuclear power see in them so we need to examine them also.Unless we can analyze and correct the pros of nuclear weapons we are unlikely to get a correct solution to the these Armageddon weapons
July 8, 2011

Solectria Inverters Review of Price,Warranty,String Sizing,Monitoring(Solar PVI 3000,5000)

Solectria Renewables LLC is a US based solar inverter company that was founded in 2005 in Massachusetts by a group of MIT engineers.The company has expanded quickly to 1 GW of grid tied pv inverter capacity in USA alone and is looking to set up smaller solar inverter factories in China and India which are looking to be the next high growth solar markets.Solectria Renewables specializes in large sized grid tie solar inverters ranging from 1.8 kilowatts to 500 kilowatt sizes.The company sells its solar inverter solutions to residential,commercial as well as utility customers.The company also sells a String Sizing Tool and SolRen monitoring software.The company received a grant to develop Smart Grid capable solar inverter from DOE.Note Solar Inverter Manufacturers are currently facing increased competition from Chinese low cost players as well as new companies.Satcon,AEIS and Power-One which are the biggest US Solar Inverter companies have already seen their revenue and profit growth go down due to decreased demand growth and falling prices.However there is greater differentiation and technology barriers in high end solar inverters than in solar panels in which Chinese are dominating currently.Solectria is differentiating itself by its decently priced solar inverters which are high efficiency pv inverters as well
July 8, 2011

SMA Solar Inverters (Sunny Boy,Sunny Island,Sunny Mini Central) – Review of Price,Brand,Comparision

SMA Solar is the world's biggest supplier and manufacturer of solar inverters with 40% marketshare of the world market of solar inverters.This Germany company has become the most valued solar company in Germany beating out the old stalwarts like Q-Cells and Solarworld. SMA Solar has managed to maintain its marketshare and grow as fast with the global solar demand unlike some of its competitors.The company has been one of the few solar companies in the globe abe to maintain their margins despite a massive gut of solar panels which have brought down solar panel prices below cash costs.Over 3.5 GW of SMA solar inverters are installed globally and the company employs thousands of people Globally.SMA Solar is now facing still competition from Chinese companies who have a dominant presence in the growing domestic market of China and also from competitors like Power-One,Satcon and others who have entered the hugely profitable and growing market of solar inverters.Besides these pure play solar inverter companies,industrial giants like Schneider Electric (Xantrex solar inverters),GE Solar Inverters,ABB and Siemens too are biting at SMA's heels.SMA Solar is facing competition from the growing presence of solar micro inverters led by companies such as Enphase which threaten to reduce the market for the normal solar inverters.However SMA is known as the best brand of solar inverter in the industry for its high quality and reliability.SMA Sunny Boy inverters are known for their high efficiency and good performance .Despite the higher prices charged by SMA Solar,the company has managed to keep its top dog spot in the solar inverter market.
July 8, 2011

Wave Energy Devices – Wave Energy Convertors,Buoys and Generator Systems Types and Designs

Wave Energy is being developed for a long time almost since the 1700s through a variety of devices and convertors.Wave Devices are being used mainly to generate electricity and for water desalination.Wave Energy has a myriad of systems being developed as the technology is still immature.Wave energy generation is still a research field and there are as many designs as companies active in this field.Note as a technology matures,a single technology system gain ascendance as others are discarded along Darwinian lines.For example solar technology which is in the phase before maturity has majority of its energy convertors of the mainstream polycrstalline solar panels.Wind Energy which is further along the learning curve has most of its energy being generated from large vertical axis wind turbines.Wave Energy on the other hand has not come around a single dominant type of device.A number of devices are being developed to harness wave energy efficienty and at low cost.Wave Energy faces problems of being exposed to strong weather elements therefore wave energy designs are progressing along the lines of devices which require low maintainance and which are able to withstand weather better through devices with lower number of moving parts.
July 8, 2011

Medical Device Companies in India – Foreign Manufacturers dominate Medical Equipment Market (Regulations,Growth)

As part of the World Health Organization’s “Health Care for All by 2000,” the Indian government is working to improve the quality and accessibility of medical care. India aims to increase the number of hospital beds, increase new hospital construction, and acquire advanced technologies, substantially.Domestic production consists primarily of low technology products, & the demand for high technology devices is met predominantly by imports. At present, the three leading exporters of medical devices to India are the United States, Japan, and Germany. India still relies on foreign involvement for high-technology and highly specialized areas such as equipment for plastic surgery, cancer diagnosis and medical imaging.
July 8, 2011

JA Solar Panels Review of Company,Prices,Comparision – Are they any Good

JA Solar is the biggest solar cell producer in the world with more than 2000 MW of silicon cell capacity.The company has one of the lowest costs in processing of solar cells from solar wafers.The company is primarily a supplier of solar cells to most solar panel producers in Europe and Asia.However the sharp fall in solar panel prices in 2011 has resulted in most of the European companies shutting shop which has meant that JA Solar has faced a large loss in customer orders for its solar cells.Unlike its peer Trina and Yingli Solar,JA Solar does not have a good brand name or distribution of solar panels.It is more of a upstream supplier of solar products to solar comapnies rather than a end distributor of solar panels.JA Solar has diversified into making solar panels of its own and in partnership with other companies.Having a strong presence in the end market has become essential to survive in the cutthroad solar market.
July 7, 2011

Sun Earth Solar Panels Review

NB Solar Sun Earth or SunEarth Solar Panels is the Brand of Solar Panels sold by Chinese Ningbo based manufacturer of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules Sun-Earth.It has 4 facilities for silicon (3000 tons polysilicon plant), wafers (40 MW ), solar components and solar system production.The company has been in the solar industry for 45 years which would make it one of the oldest solar companies in the world.However it seems to have been left far behind in terms of capacity with only 350 MW in 2009.Sun-Earth is a major supplier of solar systems to telecom towers in China and portable solar systems to Africa.It claims to have supplied to utility grade systems in Spain as well.However it does not have much of a brand name compared to listed Chinese solar companies like Trina Solar,Yingli or Suntech.It is a Tier 2 Supplier of Solar Panels like CEEG Solar and BYD Solar Panels.Therefore its solar panel prices would be much lower than that of the Tier 1 solar panel suppliers.In these times of oversupply of solar panels when even the bigger producers like Canadian Solar are operating at razon thin margins,companies like Sun-Earth would be facing survivability questions.So you have to do your due diligence before buying solar panels from small solar panel companies as they might not exist to serve the 25 year performance warranty on their solar panels.
July 7, 2011

Solar Power Plants in USA (Photovoltaic,Thermal) – Growing by the Day

Solar Power Plants in the USA are proliferating with the falling cost of solar energy and the increase in government support through the Treasury Grant subsidy.Thousands of Solar Jobs are being created in the USA as solar installers increase their workforce to cope with the rapid surge in demand.The crash in prices of solar panels has led to increase in demand for solar system installations.Also the state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) laws which make it mandatory for utilities to source a portion of their power from green energy sources has boosted the use of solar energy.Besides rooftop solar systems,large solar power plants are being built in the USA comprising of millions of solar panels with the help of DOE loan guarantees and 1603 Grants.Not only solar photovoltaic systems,but also solar thermal power plants which use solar heat to generate power are being built.Though some of the solar thermal power plants are now being converted to solar panel power farms due to their lower costs,still some solar thermal companies like Brightsource Energy continue to build massive solar farms.The list of solar power plants in the US is a constantly moving target but here is a list of the major solar power plants in the USA as well as some of the upcoming large solar power plants.Note this list is subjective as you can't have a strict rule of solar system size to classify it a solar power plant.Also the huge number of solar installations makes it almost impossible to construct an exhaustive list of solar power plants.Here I am writing about the big solar power developers and their plans on developing large solar power plants.There are a number of smaller solar developers which I have not written about here.
July 7, 2011

Solar Panels Made in USA – Which Photovoltaic Modules have Buy American certification

Solar Panels have recently become a point of trade friction between USA and China as a massive oversupply of solar panels has resulted in the prices of solar panels dropping by almost 50% in one year.This has caused great distress amongst solar panel manufacturers in the USA particularly the high cost ones which have been forced to close.Falling prices of solar panels are great news for customers but bad news for the producers of these solar panels.Now US and European companies are selling their solar panels advertising their "made in USA" credentials.This is to help them sell the solar panels which cost more but according to them have better quality and appeal to the patriotism of the Americans.Note the 2009 Economic Stimulus which promoted renewable energy had in fact "Buy American" provisions as well as the defense law passed in 2011.This means that a small part of the solar market is reserved for US Solar Panel Manufacturers who are being besieged by the low cost Chinese solar panel producers around the world.In fact Photovoltaic Module player Solarworld (which is German) is spearheading an effort to pass anti-dumping duties against the import of Chinese based panels.So which companies have "Made in USA" label.The surprising thing is that many of the solar companies are in fact foreign mostly European and Japanese though there are a native US companies as well.Note the most successful US Solar Companies First Solar and Sunpower (now Total) have always had the majority of their production outside the US in Asia.
July 7, 2011

Nuclear Energy Efficiency vs Fossil Fuels (Oil,Gas) in Power Load Factors,Energy Density and Waste

Nuclear Energy has come under the spotlight after the Japanese nuclear plant disaster with people focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of nuclear power.One of the most important aspects of nuclear based power is that it is highly efficient.Nuclear Energy is currently the most efficient power source in terms of the fuel required,land area needed and also the waste it produces.The reason for this is that nuclear based electricity is primarily produced from nuclear reactions while other forms of energy like natural gas,coal and oil use chemical reactions.Other such as wind energy convert mechanical energy into useful energy.Nuclear Power currently is mostly produced through nuclear fission as nuclear fusion is still in infancy and its not certain that mankind will be able to use nuclear fusion in a safe manner to generate energy.
July 7, 2011

Benefits of Nuclear Energy for World Environment – For and Against

Nuclear Energy has become a hugely contorversial topic after the Fukushima incident in Japan where a nuclear disaster took place because of the earthquake and tsunami.Both the pro and anti nuclear groups have come out with strident arguments for and against nuclear energy.However in some countries like Germany,Switzerland the anti nuclear sentiment has gained so much support that they have decided to permanently end nuclear electricity generation despite the high costs.Before this nuclear based power was gaining ascendancy leading many to call it a nuclear renaissance as countries like China and India made plans to increase their nuclear power plant capacities massively.But the nuclear accident has thrown a spanner in the works with huge protests being seen in India and China despite its authoritarianism also slowing down its nuclear expansion plans.
July 7, 2011

UTI Gold ETF Analysis of Assets,Value,Volume,Dividends,Expense Ratio,How to buy goldshares Online

UTI Gold ETF is a bad Gold ETF with bad performance and bad expense ratio.It makes no sense at all to invest in Goldshare.There is no reason for such a high expense ratio in a passive fund which provides no investing expertise or great advantage.You are better off buying HDFC Gold ETF or Kotak Gold ETF.UTI despite being the oldest mutual fund house in India has come up with a very bad Gold ETF offering.You are best advised to look at the following Gold ETF to make an investment. Best Gold ETF Fund in India Goldman Sachs Gold Bees Kotak Gold ETF Fund HDFC Gold ETF
July 7, 2011

Indian Diamond Jewellery Manufacturers,Brands,Companies List – Diamond Industry growing strongly

Gems and Jewelery is Ranked amongst the fastest growing sectors in India. It is an important emerging sector in the Indian Economy & also a leading sector for foreign exchange generation. It is expected that by the year 2015 the gems and jewelery sector will help India earn about US$ 25-35 billion in form of export revenue. It has a huge market both in India and abroad. Gem & Jewelery sector accounted for 16.7% of India 's total Merchandise Exports.Volume of exports reached US$ 43.1 billion as of March 2011. At present, India exports 95% of the world's diamonds. It includes various kinds of jewels like gold, colored gemstones, platinum and diamonds. During the Fiscal Year 2010-11, the total exports for gems and jewelery stood at US$ 43.1 billion as compared to US$ 29.4 billion during the fiscal year 2009-10. During the same period, the sector registered a growth of 46.5 per cent over the previous year. The sector is expected to register a CAGR of 13% during 2011-2013. This business employs and engages millions; cover wide activities such as raw material procurement from Africa, Australia, Canada and Russia, and then transforming them into beautiful pieces with the skills available in China, India, Italy and Turkey for the sophisticated markets in the USA, Europe, Far East, Middle East and Asia. The gems and jewellery industry is very much fascinating being traditionally glamorous and artistically modern.
July 7, 2011

BYD Solar Panels (240w) Review and Comparison of Efficiency plus Specifications

BYD is China’s biggest producer of Electric Vehicles and Lithium Ion batteries.The Company was made famous when Warren Buffet bought a 10% stake in the company,one of his biggest Foreign Investments.China has become the dominant leader in Solar Manufacturing from being an nobody in a short span of 5 years.Chinese producers are going to produce about 60% of the global supply this year led by companies like Solarfun,Trina Solar,Yingli Green and Suntech.BYD too has decided to throw its hat into the ring with a big bang investment.There remain little details about the $3.3 Billion Solar Investment over 5 years for which it has already gotten the financing.The company is planning to spend 22.5 Billion Yuan on Solar Energy over the next 5 years for which it has already secured financing.The company has started a 100 MW cell plant in the Shaanxi province and plans to expand to 5000 MW by 2015.BYD signed a $300 million polysilicon supply contract with LDK Solar (another Chinese solar producer).This is a huge supply contract considering the 2 year time frame.Though wafer and polysilicon prices have recently become slightly constrained recently,there is no scope for the massive shortages seen in 2008.
July 7, 2011

6 Advantages and 6 Disadvantages of Mutual Funds vs ETFs – Why Mutual Funds are a Bad Investment

Mutual Funds are one of the most common ways to invest in equity and debt and a large mutual fund industry is involved in this endeavour.There are large number of high paying professions in Wall Street which depend on the mutual fund industry which include stock brokers and sales persons.However the amount of cost of mutual funds is not proportionate to the gains they give out.This is the reason that Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and passive funds which have lower expense ratios and expenses are gaining billions of dollars in money.The reason is that a large number of mutual funds regularly underperform the benchmarks.This has caused massive heartburn amongst investors who have to pay large amounts of fees for the services of the professional fund managers.This has been the trend historically and found amongst numerous countries as well.Besides the costs of the sales and distribution of these mutual fund with their hefty commissions also falls on the investor ultimately.However the prevailing custom of investing in mutual funds is not easily broken despite the underperformance of the mutual fund industry.Most of the advantages of mutual fund can now be found in ETFs which have much lower costs.They also remove the disadvantages such as the possibility of a bad mutual fund manager.