Climateer Investing: "First Solar Continues to Raise the Performance Bar" (FSLR)

UPDATE: I turned tail after the 13 day run: "Solar Stocks Relative Strength Decelerating; Chicken Trader Says Thanks for the Ride (FSLR; SPWRA; TSL"

"Fundamentally VCs are risk adverse – they want no risk in the deal, if we could handle risk we'd be entrepreneurs."
– Victor Westerlind, General Partner at Cleantech VC firm Rockport Capital

That was one of our Climateer Line of the Day winners.
The stock is up another $1.98 at $125.66.
From Greentech:

“What looks disruptive to a VC might not look disruptive to us”

First Solar is on the minds of most everyone in the solar industry.

Vinod Khosla speaks of First Solar's performance in his recent piece in GTM. The CEO of CIGS PV vendor MiaSolé, Joseph Laia, has a First Solar panel in a nearby office as a bit of competitive inspiration. The CEO of Abound Solar, Tom Tiller and Solexant's CEO, Damoder Reddy, (both working with CdTe) also have First Solar in mind as a target. Even stealthy firms like Alta Devices have to keep abreast of where First Solar is headed.

And no wonder -- the First Solar roadmap for module efficiency, capex, throughput and even Energy Payback Time are aggressive and the benchmarks against which most solar firms will have to hold themselves. (First Solar does have a few doubters such as the author of "Why I'm Short First Solar.")

First Solar's Rafi Garabedian, Director of Disruptive Technologies, spoke at a recent OIDA event in Santa Clara, California and reviewed the First Solar roadmap out to 2014. Here are some of the numbers:

2014 roadmap goal of 52 cents per watt at the panel level -- accomplished through efficiency gains and improvements in throughput

14% module efficiency in 2014

Capex at 65 cents per watt factory capacity.

Garabedian explained that First Solar sees the solar industry currently in a "transition market" where we are dependent on subsidies and compete against peak power plants. They believe that if they achieve their roadmap numbers -- we can move from the "transition market" to a "sustainable market" and compete directly with baseload power....MORE

Monday, June 21, 2010

"First Solar Continues to Raise the Performance Bar" (FSLR)