Competition
March 31, 2011
Nuclear Energy is facing a global backlash after the Fukushima incident in Japan as countries race to review their existing nuclear reactors.Nuclear Power had been enjoying a Renaissance in the 21st century as the Chernobyl and Three Mile Radioactive incidents faded from public memory.China is the principal driver of growth constructing reactors at a rapid clip to meet its growing needs with thermal power fast reaching a saturation point.Other growing developing countries like India,Vietnam are also planning to heavily invest in nuclear plants.However all those plans may change as the Japanese earthquake shakes up the nuclear energy industry more than the landmass in Japan itself.Note despite the catastrophic tails risks of nuclear power,it is not going to go away soon due to the large installed base and no fast substitutes available.Note more than 430 nuclear reactors are currently operational globally today and lots more on the drawing board.Note Nuclear Power accounts for around 18% of US electricity capacity and 30% plus for Europe,Japan and Korea.France is the leader with 80% of the electricity generated coming from nuclear fission.Here is a list of the Pros of Nuclear Energy.
March 31, 2011
Solar Panels have become a mass phenomenon as Bloomberg reported a few days ago rivaling in explosive growth the Apple iPad. Falling prices of solar panels […]
March 31, 2011
India's Green Companies are seeing tremendous growth backed by the nation's massive energy demand increase.The 8% Plus Economic Growth coupled with the already massive electricity deficit which makes brownouts of 8 hours a day normal in many places in the country provides the macro background underpinning the growth.India's Green Industry is still in a nascent state compared to the massive solar and wind industries in countries like China and Germany.However attracted by the massive potential a number of companies small and large have entered the fray.Most of India's large energy groups,utilities have already established a small presence or are in process of doing so.While Wind Energy is the largest Renewable Energy Industry in India after HydroElectricity,Geothermal Energy is non-existent without a single large commercial plant.Biomass Energy is quite well developed and Solar Energy is the fastest growing Green Industry.Here is a comprehensive list of the Green Companies in India operating in the different Alternative Energy Sectors.
March 30, 2011
Solar and Wind Energy are the two most widely used forms of Renewable Energy amongst others like Geothermal,Tidal,Biomass etc.While Hydro and Nuclear Energy are also considered by some to be Alternative forms of Energy,most governments do not count these two in their renewable targets.Wind Energy has been the dominant amongst the 2 in the last 2 decades as falling prices of Wind Power has made it more widely used.However the rapidly declining costs of Solar Energy has made it the faster growing of the two with 50% annual growth being seen in the last decade.Solar Energy also has a much larger potential than any other form of Energy.However its higher costs have inhibited its growth till now,however the entry of low cost Asian producers and fast technology innovation has already brought solar power on parity with fossil fuels in some places like Italy,Turkey,Hawai etc.
March 30, 2011
Solar Roofs are a niche area but is growing in popularity with the entry of more and more companies selling products tailormade for this area.What are Solar Roofs exactly - does it mean a Roof with Solar Panels installed on it or something else.Solar Roofs are not roofs where solar electricity is generated by putting in solar mounting/racking systems and mainstream solar panels,rather they are roofs where specialized solar products called solar shingles are installed.Solar Roofs can also mean a roof where Building Integrated Photovoltaic products are installed.Some companies make BIPV products like flexible solar panels or organic/dye solar cell panels ( these are niche companies).
March 30, 2011
Sharp is the biggest company in the world in terms of making revenues from sales of solar panels so it seems counterintuitive for someone to recommend not buying Sharp Solar Panels.However this Japanese Conglomerate has been losing marketshare rapidly to cheaper Asian competitors.Sharp due to its factories in high cost locations makes solar panels at a much higher cost and sells them at much higher prices as well.The reason is that they manage to sell so many solar panels is that consumers are not educated about other better options and the other solar panel companies don't have the distribution networks.Note Sharp has been trying to diversify away from crystalline solar panels to thin film solar panels.The reason is that they are losing the competitive advantage to Chinese companies like Trina Solar and others.
March 29, 2011
Solar Panel Manufacturers globally have kept on increasing due to the fast growing nature of the industry and low entry barriers.However most of the solar panel manufacturers have high costs and low quality.Most of these producers have little growth prospects and are a bad choice to buy from as they might go bellyup.This would lead to a void of the 25 year warranty of the solar panels.So it makes sense only to buy from the biggest and best solar manufacturers in the world.Solar Panel Manufacturers are present in most parts of the world with Korea,China,Taiwan,USA,Japan and Germany dominating.However small solar panel producers are also present in most countries like Spain,Greece,India etc.Solar Panels are of mainly 2 type - crystalline and thin film.Most of the solar panels produced today are of the crystalline type and are mostly used in residential rooftops.Thin film panels are mostly used in large ground solar power plants.Thin film solar panels are of lower efficiency and are lower priced as well.However falling costs of crystalline solar panels has led to their increasing dominance.
March 29, 2011
Cheap Solar Panels are widely available with the entry of a multitude of Korean,Chinese and Taiwanese companies.Most of these solar panel manufacturers are fighting on price and have decent quality.With little to differentiate between solar panels made by different firms,cheapness has become the main selling point for these solar panels.Cheap Solar Panels can be bought by an informed customers as expensive Western and Japanese brands still hold a large marketshare.But buying these brands might not make sense economically or environmentally.You can easily avoid buying solar panels from BP Solar because they outsource manufacturing of their solar panels to cheaper locations.It is common sense to buy cheaper solar panels from the companies located in those low cost locations.
March 28, 2011
Free Solar Panels don't exist just as Free iPads don't exist.Some websites and companies advertize free solar power or free solar panels based on government subsidies.Note even these free solar power offers are not completely free as they have a payback periods depending on how much government subsidies are given.Nobody is going to give you a free solar panel or a free iPad without a catch.
March 28, 2011
British Petroleum (BP) the multi billion dollar Oil and Gas Conglomerate is a strange player in the Renewable Energy Sector of Solar Energy.BP was a dominant company amongst the top 10 global manufacturers of solar panels till a few years ago.However the lack of interest on the part of management,low investment,lack of R&D has made it a bit player in the fast growing solar panel market.Companies which did not exist till a few years ago have outpaced BP to become top solar panel producers.However BP Solar Panels continue to sell in a number of market because of existing sales relationships and brand name.However it is only uneducated and uninformed consumers who are buying BP Solar Panels in my opinion.BP Solar Panels should be avoided both from an economic point of view and from the environment perspective.
March 19, 2011
Chinese companies have risen from virtually nothing 5 years ago to become Top 5 Global Wind Energy Players.The Chinese companies have seen massive growth on the back of a strongly growing domestic market.China which now accounts of 50% of the world Wind Turbine market in 2010 is expected to see continued strong growth with the Chinese government setting a target of more than 100 GW by 2015.The growth of the Chinese Turbine Producers has been mainly due to the domestic content requirement set by the Chinese government earlier.The government owned utilities also favor the domestic companies leading to their astounding growth.
March 19, 2011
Coal Mines in Indonesia,Australia,Africa and North America are selling like hot cakes as Indian,Chinese companies as well as mining conglomerates like Rio Tinto,Vale,BHP Billiton fight to secure raw materials.Note India and China are consuming huge amounts of coal to power their thermal plants.While China consumes a monstrous 3 billion tons,Indian demand is rising at more than 10% a year though on a smaller base.Coal is the cheapest form of power despite its polluting and health hazardous affect.Though Coal Plants in Developed countries are becoming much more expensive to build due to taxes and opposition by environmental groups,there is no stopping their furious growth in countries like China and India.Though India too faces some environmental opposition,massive ultra mega power plants with capacity of 4000 MW are getting built by new Indian private utilities
March 19, 2011
India's Economy is being hampered in its growth trajectory by lack of infrastructure which is leading to supply side problems.India suffers woefully from a lack of roads,electricity,ports etc. and almost a trillion dollars is going to be spent in the next few years as demand outstrips supply.India's Machinery and Capital Goods Industry is set to capitalize on this strong growth and is already seeing massive orders which are 2-3 years worth of their annual revenue.While the stock valuations of the capital goods equipment manufacturers has come down a bit from the heavy days of 2008,they are still quite high reflecting the strong growth potential.India's Engineering Industry is also composed of a number of smaller manufacturers that export light engineering equipment worth several billion dollars mostly to developing countries.India's Machinery Sector is composed of a mix of government owned and private companies as well as the giant capital goods MCN conglomerates like Areva and others.Here is a list of the major Indian equipment manufacturers.
March 19, 2011
German's Solar Energy Market is the biggest in the world by a fair margin.Germany installed almost 6 gigawatts of solar panels in 2010 taking the total installed capacity to almost 16 GW which is 40% of the world's total installed solar capacity.Note Germany's Photovoltaic Solar Electricity now forms almost 10-15% of the total electricity production in the country at peak time.Note Germany's solar industry got a renewed boost when 7 old nuclear plants were shutdown following Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Disaster recently.Previously Germany had decided to extend the operating life of its Nuclear Plants despite stiff opposition.Germany Solar Subsidy which is framed under the Renewable Energy EEG law has made Germany one of the world's leaders in Wind,Solar and Biomass Energy.Germany's Manufacturing Industry has benefited from the strong domestic market with many of the world's top solar panel companies located there.Solar equipment,inverters and cell companies are also present in large numbers.Recently Germany amended its Feed in Tariff Law to slowdown the exponential growth in solar panel installations.This is over and above the regular reduction in solar subsidies done each year.
March 16, 2011
Geothermal Energy is regarded as a poor cousin to its more glamorous cousins Wind and Solar.Geothermal Energy Capacity has been installed and the growth rate is a pathetic 3-4% compared to the over 50% CAGR seen for solar energy and around 30% for Wind Energy.However Geothermal Energy possesses one attribute that the others do not.Its 24 hour generation capability is a massive plus compared to the intermittent nature of Wind and Solar Energy.However long project development time and large capital investments have deterred fast growth in geothermal energy in the world.However some countries like Iceland,Indonesia,Philippines and USA have a strong geothermal energy industry.Note Geothermal Energy has massive use as a heating source for homes and offices,however this article mainly talks from the view of Electricity Generation.
March 16, 2011
PTC India Financial Services has substantial advantages of growth,a good business model in India's booming Energy Sector.However the valuation of the company has been kept too high for essentially what is a financial intermediary.The growth of the company has been compensated by the high valuation making it not such a good buy especially in the context of the current stock market and economic conditions.It might be better to look at cheaper alternatives in the Indian Infra Sector.
March 15, 2011
The Taiwanese Solar Industry has become the 2nd largest in the world following in the footsteps of China.Taiwanese Solar Industry has a longer history than the Chinese with Solar Cell Makers Motech and E-Ton establishing themselves globally way back in 2006.However the steep fall in solar panel prices following the Lehman crisis had led to losses for these companies as the Chinese companies surged ahead using their low cost manufacturing.The crisis also led to the emergence of newer Taiwanese companies like Gintech,Neo Solar which are growing at extremely fast rates.Note Taiwan is a hub of semiconductor manufacturing with leading companies like TSMC,AUO,UMC,HTC etc.Solar Industry uses many of the same technologies,raw materials and techniques common to semiconductor and Display Panels Production giving Taiwanese firms a natural advantage.Taiwan has been predominantly present in the crystalline Solar Cell part of the supply chain and lacks a big manufacturer of polysilicon ( though a facility has been started).The lack of vertical integration has also made the costs of the Taiwanese industry higher.The entry of large companies like AUO,TSMC has further increased the competition in the Taiwanese market.Note Taiwan's government has also promoted the use of solar energy in the country through the use of a Feed in Tariff program.
March 14, 2011
The South Korean Government is the Greenest government in the world without a doubt.The Korean government not only implement the biggest green stimulus but has also heavily promoted the use of Green Industry in Korea and amongst its industries.As a result South Korean Chaebols like Samsung,LG,Hanwha,Hyundai are making massive investments into Wind,Solar,Tidal,Nuclear Energy and Elective Vehicles,Batteries etc.A common theme running across these companies is their strong investments into the crystalline silicon solar supply chain.Hanwha has already become one of the biggest manufacturers of solar panels in the world by acquiring Chinese producer Solarfun while OCI Chemicals is set to become the biggest producer of polysilicon in the world.South Korea has also one of the most generous Solar Feed in Tariff Programs in the world to encourage solar panel installation in the country.While the subsidy ran into a hiccup,Korean Solar Energy is set to grow again as the government pushes Solar Energy Strongly.Here are a list of the major Korean Solar Companies.
March 14, 2011
India's Biomass Electricity Capacity at 2 GW (including cogeneration) is around 4% of the world's total Biomass Power Capacity of around 50 GW.US is the leader in Biomass Capacity with around 20% of the world's biomass potential.India has set ambitious plans for expanding the biomass power capacity in the next 10 years.India's Ministry of Renewable Energy has set a very high target of multiplying the power capacity by 10 times in the next 10 years.India's Total Biomass Potential with existing Technology is around 25 GW of which around 8% has been realized till date.India produce s 500 million tonnes of biomass per year, 120-150 million tonnes is surplus
March 13, 2011
Tidal Waver Energy is still an immature technology with most of the plants built around the world being pilot/demonstration ones.However Tidal Wave Energy holds big potential though it is still a decade away from reaching large commercial scale just like Algae based Biofuel and other forms of Green Technology.Tidal Wave Energy essentially works by converting the energy generated by tidal waves into electricity energy.Tidal Generators are used to convert energy from tidal energy into a more useful form.Here are the following ways Tidal Generators are involved in producing Tidal Power.
March 13, 2011
The Pros of Wind Energy far outweighs the Cons of Wind Power leading to massive amounts of wind power capacity being installed in almost every part of the world.Wind Power already generates majority of the electricity in countries like Denmark and almost 1/5th in countries with proactive renewable energy policies such as Spain,Germany and Portugal.Wind Power has great potential in USA,China and India which are driving the growth of Wind Power in the world.South America particularly Brazil are also showing strong interests in building up wind farms in the country.The recent increase in the price of oil and the dangers of Nuclear Energy further emphasize the importance of Wind Power Energy.
March 10, 2011
Solar Companies have proliferated in the last decade as the Solar Energy Industry has seen a 50% CAGR in the past 10 years exploding by almost […]
March 10, 2011
Interest in India's Renewable Sector is growing by the day with massive potential in Wind,Solar,Biomass and Nuclear Energy.Renewable Energy in India is going to more than quadruple in capacity over the next decade providing amply growth and profit opportunities.Foreign and domestic makers are already making a beeline to the Indian market to get a first mover advantage.Here are some of the main news in the Green Industry Space in India
March 9, 2011
The Costs of Biomass Energy Production fall in a very wide range because of the wide variety of feedstock it uses.The costs of biomass energy also depend on the distance of the feedstock from the biomass power plant.Great distances lead to the biomass plant being unfeasible.Also some forms of Biomass are more expensive than others.Urban Waste and Waste Wood are some of the cheapest forms of biomass available.Similarly,Biomass plants also can be built over a wide range of investments.Co-generation plants or CHP plants are the cheapest biomass plants while standalone biomass plants which can use a variety of feedstock are quite expensive in nature.Note unlike solar and wind power,the investments in power plants based on biomass are not fixed.Some of the technology like boilers and turbines for generating biomass energy are common industrial equipment.The costs of a biomass energy can also depend greatly on how the feedstock is procured,managed and used up by a biomass plant.A good manager of a biomass plant is very important to lower running costs of a biomass plant.
March 9, 2011
Biomass Power Plants are increasing rapidly as the costs of fossil fuels go up and the need for renewable energy is increasing.Biomass Power is attractive because of its clean character and supplies a large portion of the energy needs in rural communities.With advancements in gasifier technology and energy conversion,biomass power plants have become quite popular.Biomass Power Plants are increasing in scale from around 20-50 MW to more than 100 MW as the technology has advanced quite a bit.The only problem for these large plants is securing feedstock for these power plants and storing them.Biomass Energy has a number of advantages over conventional forms of energy and depending on the feedstock cost can be generated at prices on par with fossil fuels.Biomass Energy also leads to higher energy security as biomass is almost always secured locally.
March 9, 2011
Biomass Energy is highly under-appreciated as a renewable source of energy despite being the most important source of energy during most of human history.Till the 19th century biomass energy used to account for 70% of the world's energy consumption and still accounts for around 10% of the world consumption.In developing countries the share of biomass energy is still quite high at 30% and it is the major source for energy for rural and backward communities.Biomass primarily consists of
March 8, 2011
India is set to see a massive infrastructure capex cycle over the next decade as the existing infrastructure fails to support India's massive population.$500 Billion is expected to be spent in India's next 5 year plan with expenditure concentrated on roads,railways,ports,water,power,transportation etc.Capital Goods,Construction and Real Estate Companies will benefit hugely from this capex cycle.A Number of Companies have been raising capital from the Indian Stock Markets as India requires massive amounts of capital to fund its ambitious growth plans. Here is the list of top construction companies in India on the basis of their tie-ups with their international counterparts, technological advancements, generating money from the market to trigger their expansion plans and for establishing an entire township in the wastelands and making it the hottest commercial destination.Note Infrastructure companies in recent days have taken a massive beating falling to their 2008 Lehman lows.This is due the the numerous scams hitting the country,delays due to land acquisition,high interest rates and slow execution.However the long term potential of these construction/EPC companies in India remains excellent due to the massive investments.