Bosch Acquires Ersol Solar, Large Industrials Moving Into Solar Sector | Alternative Energy Stocks

Bosch Acquires Ersol Solar, Large Industrials Moving Into Solar Sector | Alternative Energy Stocks We had one of the first fridges in our small west of Ireland town and would be still working if my mother hadn't foolishly bought a new one after 25 years. Our fridge was made by Bosch. Now we see Bosch positioning themselves for the future in the solar industry. For a firm so associated with the automotive industry - just look under the car bonnet - it is true that a company such as Bosch is first in it for the money, and don't usually get it right. So now we have yet more proof that the sector is viable,vital and growing. As if we needing telling.

German REFIT Scare

Solar took a nasty dive last week after the German government began debating the country's solar feed-in tariff.

The REFIT rate (Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff) has been a vital driver of the huge leap in Solar PV production,installation and exports,led by companies which have largely located in areas of high unemployment in the former DDR.

The feed-in tariff basically requires utilities to buy electricity from solar sources at a fixed, above-market rate for 20 years. And each year the law is in effect, the size of the tariff declines for new entrants. This allows for the fact that the first movers had higher costs since they would have had all the hassle and expense that Pioneers and Early Adapters usually have to go through.

The aim is to offer consumers a payback time of about 8 years, although some claim payback times as low as 4 years. Financial Companies and Banks compete to offer financial products for purchase and installation of the Solar PV units.And as the technology improves and the numbers of customers builds up, so the cost of entry reduces,which is the reason for the gradual reduction.The cost of this subsidy has the merit of only paying for power produced. Since the cost of the subsidy is usually spread across all electricity users,it is usually just a pretty small bit of the averagee consumer bill.

The alternative subsidy driver has been the nameplate consumption figure and this relies on the manufacturers claimed output. Now I am a great believer in the public having their money spent cost-effectively, and can't help but think that this method might lead to a certain amount of inflation in claimed output figures.

However, because the scheme has been such an enormous success in Germany some parties fearws that the tariff could cost taxpayers up to €120 Billon by 2035,x there was a proposal to change the 15 percent reduction scheduled for 2010, to a 25 percent reduction.

By last weekend, happily,an agreement was reached where support would decline by only 8 percent in each of the next two years, and by 9 percent in 2011.

With Germany home to some of the most enticing and consumer-friendly initiatives in the world,there are lots of solar companies there,and this poloitical interference caused the stock prices to sneeze a bit. Although the market recovered it is a reminder that the sector is volatile and can yo-yo a bit.Green Capitalists can take advantage of lower prices to top up or to get in for first time. My guess is that the shares will seem cheap soon enough,As the cost of producing solar cells keeps reducing,parity arrives earlier than forecast.

Microsoft Is Joining Low-Cost Laptop Project - New York Time

So Microsoft,which is owned by the richest man in the world,finally gets round to joining a project to benefit the poor kids in the globalised economy. The ones who can help pay your pension. Charging $3 per licence is just stupid. Why not allow for the marketing foothold they might gain downstream? After all, the chances are that kids accustomed to Linux won't feel any reason to buy software when they grow up,as using Open Source will be second nature. And this will mean that kids weaned on Linux will realise they don't need Microsoft at home. Or in the offices,companies and organisations they run. Dumb move,MS. Are you short of cash, or just lacking vision? After all, most of us are creatures of habit,and tend to stick to the things we are most used to, because it's easier for us. The Jesuits may have been the first claiming for a long time now that catching consumers young enough can ensure brand loyalty.That isn't quite how they put it and I will dig out the right quote later. If Microsoft were to be clever they'd fall over themselves to hook newbies just like the banks do with students. And rely on inertia and famliarity to keep clients. But vision from Microsoft? Buying Yahoo,or wanting to? That's vision. Right. Microsoft Is Joining Low-Cost Laptop Project - New York Times

Oil Tar Sands: A Dead Financial Duck?

Oil Tar Sands have many enemies already because of the high amount of energy and water used in their extraction. But if opponents of wind turbines can cite bird kills as a justification for the refusal of planning applications for wind farms, what will this story about the killing of at least 500 migrating ducks by the toxic effluent contained in the tailings lagoons do for investor and public sentiment? I wouldn't expect anyone reading this to have invested in stocks associated with this technology although many of them have done well in the market. I would be willing to bet that these dead ducks will hit a nerve in a public unmoved or unaware of any environmental costs. It will also enrage hunters, who prefer their ducks to be killed by themselves, and who are often wrongly thought to be anti-environment. This isn't true of all hunters though. I lived in Tuscany for some years, and legal hunting opening sounds like an outbreak of war.The best laugh I have had lately was reading where a group opposing wind power projects planned for southern Italy, claiming that the proposed turbines would kill migrating birds. Why was I laughing? Because southern Italian hunters and poachers are notorious for welcoming incoming migrating birds with raised barrels and trapping nets, that's why. AFP: Toxic ponds kill ducks in Canada