You may have been following First Solar Inc. on the stock market. Its stock has had quite a bit of upward play lately and James Cramer has touted it on Mad Money on CNBC.
I wrote some earlier on First Solar Inc here.
If you call and ask to buy product here is what they will tell you:
1) our product is all going to Germany for years to come. This is because the poor slobs in the German populace are forced to buy the power at 50 cents per kilowatt hour by proxy. The power company does the actual buying, the German people do the actual paying.  That’s a simple result of the company doing the buying being in economic equilibrium.
2) they are adding substantial capacity
3) They will not tell you the sell price of the panel units
4) 25 year life time spec is based on accelerated life testing.
All of the numbers seem like this should be a winning technical approach. Why is it that these guys are not building plants balls out? Something seems wrong here to me. If everything is as they say it is it seems they would be going for broke on this bet.  What’s holding them up? What is the source of their reservations?
In any event any company sucking at the governmental teet has to be watched. For that matter anybody with your money has to be watched. Â
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4 Comments
1. THere has been a study, by a number of European research foundations showing that ALL benefits (obvious and non-obvious) of solar subsidies (ie all external benefits) are GREATER than the cost of the subs.
2. True
3. Why should they ??
4. Probably True
5. They are building as fast as they can
6. I agree 200%. Watch all the companies who are gov subsidized
Nuclear Industry
Oil and Gas Industry
Auto Industry
Just to name the TOP THREE.
1) Euro research foundations? Sounds like more charlatans like the ones that churn out product from the global warming fear factory.
3) because they would make more money. Because if they are not fibbing they are the first. If you squander pole position while you have it you blow THE biggest opportunity / advantage a company ever has. ( I know I’m in business )
4) ….. you can’t say its probably true. The doubt sown by the other points shades this off into a corner
5) ??? They claim the tech does not require expensive clean rooms….. sounds like they might not be building as fast as they can.
6) Nuclear, Oil and Auto have all proven themselves. They are going businesses that would survive and probably due BETTER in absence of government. Government only every does harm by the 3rd law of thermodynamics and by common sense.
Oh these many years later in 2017 if you look at FSLR's stock price you can see they was indeed something wrong. They operate at a loss and their stock price once mighty is now laid low at 32 bucks per share.
Solar Panels Blog » FSLR First Solar INC. An Analysis of What I… · March 14, 2007 at 4:51 pm
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