Green energy may yet survive poison of cheap gas 12 Apr 2012 The collapse of U.S. natural gas prices below $2 is a fresh blow to solar just as another industry IPO is pulled. But don’t write it off. Solar is getting cheaper, too, and providers can set costs for decades. Gas, which America may soon be exporting, offers no such guarantee.
Crop of shock CEO exits reinforces need to plan 25 Oct 2011 Judging by First Solar’s 25 pct stock price drop, you’d think it erred in ousting its chief. Or that Quest’s 11 pct jump meant it should’ve dumped its boss sooner. And no reaction must make IBM’s new CEO a snooze. The real lesson is that boards must carefully plan successions.
Solyndra debacle reveals poor means to policy end 14 Sep 2011 The U.S. solar firm’s bankruptcy shows how poor risk assessment and crony capitalism undercut government loan guarantee programs. Germany’s mandated 20-year fixed-rate contracts for clean energy work better. They shrink the state’s role picking winners and maximize market forces.
Solar firm’s demise signals gray industry forecast 16 Aug 2011 Onetime investor darling Evergreen Solar, among the first U.S. green energy companies to go public, just went bankrupt, victimized by a global supply glut. Growing Chinese competition and waning European subsidies mean the solar sector will probably get darker before the dawn.