Abhishek Shah
July 6, 2011
Solar Air Conditioner or Solar AC refers to an Air Conditioner where the energy for the air conditioning is dervided from solar energy.There are 3 types of Solar Air Conditioning namely passive solar AC,solar thermal and PV Solar Air conditioning.Solar Air Conditioners though a niche area are expected to grow strongly in the future in hot areas like India where Air Conditioning is consuming huge amounts of energy and where there is sufficient sun light to generate big amounts of solar energy as well.
July 6, 2011
Assemblies of solar cells form solar panels. The raw material in solar cell- silicon in its purest form makes an ideal neutral platform for the transmission of electrons. Silicon also has some atomic-level properties which make it even more attractive for the./ creation of solar panels. Solar panels receive sunlight and actively convert that energy into electricity. The solar cells have a large area p-n junction diode which convert the energy from sunlight into usable electrical energy. The basic principle behind the procedure is Photovoltaic Effect, photo = light, voltaic = electricity ie. conversion of sunlight into electrical energy
July 5, 2011
Multijunction Solar Cell Concept
The basic principle on which solar cells work is Photovoltaic ie. they convert the photons from the sunlight into usable electricity. However, in this process neither is all the light absorbed nor does all the photons get converted into electricity. High energy blue light photons do not have all of their energy converted into electricity, some is wasted as heat & low energy red light photons are not absorbed at all. Sunlight is made up of a broad spectrum and depending upon these various wavelengths, photons of light also have different energy levels.Hence, to minimize this wastage & to enhance the efficiency of solar cells, scientists came up with the concept of multijunction solar cells.
July 5, 2011
Production of iron ore in the country is through a combination of large mechanised mines in both public and private sectors and several smaller mines operated in manual or semi mechanised basis in the private sector. During 2001-02, 215 iron ore mines were operating in a total 638 leases which increased to 261, during 2005-06 operating in 505 leases. During 2006-07, India produced 172.3 MT of iron ore including lump, fines & concentrate. Normally, iron ore mining in India is done by opencast method and on the basis of mining methods, the mining can be broadly divided into two categories, i.e., manual and mechanized. Majority of the large mechanised mines are in the public sectors whereas manual mines are mainly in the private sector. In order to support steel production of 110 MT by 2019-20, the requirement of iron ore is placed at 190 MT & exports have been estimated to be around 100 MT. World iron ore production was 1,690 MT in 2006. Although iron ore is mined in more than 50 countries, the bulk of world production comes from just a few countries. The five largest producers are Brazil,China, Australia, India & Russia.
July 5, 2011
Samsung had decided a couple of years ago that it wants to be a major player in the Green Industry and has lined up billions of dollars to invest in solar and wind energy over the next decade.The company is already starting up massive solar panel plants and wind turbine factories as it hopes to capture a large chunk of the clean technology industry.Samsung is a global leader in the Semiconductor area which it is trying to reinforce by huge capital expenditure.Samsung has strong expertise in the areas of LCD and Memory manufacturing and technology, which it can easily leverage to develop Solar Thin Film technology.However,Samsung is focusing its efforts on high efficiency Crystalline Solar Technology.It recently announced a big investment commitment to Ontario in offshore wind and solar manufacturing and generation.The company wants to rival conglomerates like GE and Siemens which already have a large presence in wind,solar and smart grid technologies
July 5, 2011
There are a lot of books,pundits and websites that are starting to guarantee amazing returns by giving you nifty future tips.These scamsters and fraudsters have only one game plan which is not to make you money but to take your hard earned money.Note there is nobody who will give you nifty future tips that will make you money.Simple reason is that if these jokesters knew a way to make money,they would be making it themselves rather than wasting time and effort giving you tips.Have you ever heard of a successful person in a field giving you sureshot tips in generating easy wealth.Then why should these websites give you tips for paltry sums.These websites have a very simple business model which is to lure common people to their scams by paying money for a month or a year then giving them useless shit which will lose you more money.
July 5, 2011
The Indian telecom industry is the world’s fastest growing industry with 792 million mobile phone subscribers as of February 2011. It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China. The industry will reach around $80 billion in revenues by next year showing an astounding CAGR of over 25% and will employ a stupendous 1 crore employees making it one of the biggest value creators in India in recent times. The introduction of mobile phones brought a major revolution in the industry. Mobile phones have become a modern day necessity. Be it a professional, a trader, a housewife or a student, everyone has one. The availability of cheap mobiles in the Indian market, is also a major factor in making it available & affordable to the common masses. Today's mobile phone is not just a phone, it has a built in camera, music system, games & internet enabled networking. These facilities entertain you as well as make you available to work as & when required.
July 5, 2011
PWND is a good Wind ETF with strong weighting on China and Wind Utilities.Note the center of Wind Energy Manufacturing and Development has shifted towards China from the Western world with almost 50% of the world's wind power installations happening in China in 2010.8 out of the top 15 Wind Turbine Manufacturers are now from China which makes it very important that Top Wind Energy Investments have a substantial weighting on Chinese Wind stocks.PWND has a good combination of Wind Utilties and Wind Turbine Stocks from China which gives exposure to the biggest wind power market in the world.It has also got a decent investment in top Wind Utilities in Europe which still have the biggest wind farm portfolios in the world.With 30 stocks,it has not over diversified as well with good concentrated holdings in top wind power stocks.While 0.75% expense ratio is slightly high it is not a deal killer.The 2010 and 2011 performance of Wind Energy has been dismal to say the least with the Copenhagen Global Climate Change Meeting going to the dogs in 2009 end.However there remains little alternative to Wind Energy as Coal,Gas and Oil get increasingly scarce,costly and are continuing to pollute the environment.With only $19 million left as the corpus PWND may not continue long,however if it does it might be the best time to invest in a good WInd Energy ETF when the sector is so unloved.PWND is the best Wind Energy ETF and probably the best wind stock investment out there
July 5, 2011
In 2007 the World Crude Steel output reached 1343 million metric tons and showed a growth of 7.5% over the previous year.China remained the world’s largest Crude Steel producer in 2007 also (489 million metric tons) followed by Japan (112. million metric tons) and USA (97 million metric tons). India occupied the 5 th position (53million metric tons) (Source: IISI). According to an estimate by Credit Suisse, India’s steel consumption will continue to grow at nearly 16% rate annually, till 2012, fuelled by demand for construction projects worth US$ 1 trillion. The scope for raising the total consumption of steel is huge, given that per capita steel consumption is only 40 kg – compared to 150 kg across the world and 250 kg in China.
July 5, 2011
A growing population has increased the demand for drinking water and rapid urbanization has required increasing sewage treatment. Many industries have been forced to adopt water-recycling systems due to the scarcity of water. Growing public concern, media pressure and renewed legislation has left industries with no option but to install water treatment equipment. The water treatment companies offer sustainable solutions that serve as the economic basis for a region and provide enhanced quality of life for people. They aim at the conservation and ecological utilization of water. However, Indian companies have limited capabilities and technology for the design of water treatment plants. There is a distinct opportunity for U.S. companies to offer technical consulting.
July 5, 2011
A solar cooker uses solar energy to heat food or drink to cook it . The vast majority of the solar cookers presently in use are relatively cheap devices though expensive devices are more prevalent in developed countries. Solar Cookers use no fuel and require little maintainance, they can help reduce fuel costs for the poor which are mainly depended on firewood for cooking.This will reduce pollution and lead to saving of the forests.
July 5, 2011
According to reports coming from Europe where the summit of major European leaders took place to resolve the growing debt crisis,a deal has been reached on Greek debt.The Euro 350 billion debt which dwarfs the size of the negatively growing Greek economy has been a major source of instability in the last 2 years.The private holders of the Greek government bonds have agreed to take a 50% writeoff on their holdings.This means that if they hold Euro 100 of bonds they have become Euro 50 now as the rest has been written off as bad debt.Not that it was not apparent as Greek CDS and Greek bonds were touching all times lows in the secondary market.In fact the only buyers of Greece bonds were the European Central Bank and the Greek banks.The capital markets had been going up in the last month in the hope of some sort of resolution.The deal does not look like a win win as there will be some big losers in this deal (though they were already losing for some time).Nicolas Sarkozy announced the deal which would be voluntary in nature so that the CDS would not be invoked.Here are the winners and losers from this deal
July 5, 2011
July 5, 2011
Solar Energy is the fastest growing industry in the USA and has been one of the fastest globally as well with solar demand rising by more than 150% in 2010 fueled by massive cuts in prices of solar panels especially those from China.While this has led to a major drop in solar energy stock prices this has also led to a massive boost in volumes due to demand elasticity.Only the top solar companies will be able to survive this brutal consolidation that is taking place with some companies like Solyndra already consigned to the death list.Solar Industry is a global one and has a big supply chain as well.This means that looking at only one stock market will deprive you of better opportunities that might exist in other stock markets.There is also a big supply chain associated especially with crystalline solar panels.There are companies that exist only in Polysilicon,Wafers,Cells,Modules.There are also companies that are suppliers of material like encapsulants and metal alloys to these industries.This article will give you a very broad idea on the complete list of solar energy stocks that exist in each part of the supply and different parts of the world.You can also look at the 2 solar ETFs that trade on the US stock markets TAN and KWT .
July 4, 2011
Japan has decided to from 5 consortia of three to nine companies to bid for large solar projects in Asia and Africa.The Japanese government will support these consortia with subsidies and diplomacy to take on the Chinese solar companies.Note Chinese companies have soundly beaten the Japanese in solar company rankings despite the early mover advantage.Japanese zaibatsus are falling behind the Chinese in the global solar marketshare as low costs,cheap capital and huge subsidies have bankrupted European and American solar companies.Solar Energy in Japan has a long future dating back to 1994 when the government introduced capital subsidies to boost solar energy installations on rooftops.Till 2004,Japan was the largest solar market in the world after which it was overtaken by Germany.After 2004,the growth in the solar industry tapered off as the government reduced the subsidies for solar panels to almost zero.The huge domestic market gave rise to Japanese companies like Sharp,Mitsubishi,Kyocera,Panasonic-Sanyo become top solar panel producers in the world.However the low cost Chinese solar module producers have pushed back most of the Japanese companies
July 4, 2011
LG Solar Review of Multicrystalline and MonoCrystalline PV Cell Panels Modules Prices and Comparison
The LG Group is producing solar products through two Group Companies. LG Solar Energy was formed in 2007 to produce polysilicon which is the most important raw material for the production of solar wafers.It is already selling solar modules in the South Korean and European markets and plans to rapidly expand capacity to One Gigawatt by 2012.LG Electronics , plans to invest 1 trillion won by 2015 in its solar cell business and aims to generate revenue of 3 trillion won by 2015.LG plans to increase annual production of solar cells and modules at its plant in South Korea to 500 megawatts next year and 1,000 megawatts by 2013, from 330 megawatts today.LG plans to have a completely vertically integrated business in the Solar Power and plans to install massive solar power plants in the USA as well.
July 4, 2011
.The cost of the solar panel can also vary a lot depending on the retailer,size of the solar panel,technology and the brand.This makes buying solar panels a confusing problem though most residential and commercial buyers are not involved leaving the decision to the solar installer/EPC company.The advent of Chinese solar panels has made the Western and European solar panel companies lost marketshare rapidly.In fact most of the European companies are shutting factories to open plant in Asia where the costs are much lower.Japanese solar companies however continue to keep their manufacturing in developed countries as they get a premium for their solar panels which are considered of superior quality.
Kyocera is one of the oldest solar panel manufacturers and is second only to Sharp amongst the Japanese companies.It also manufactures industrial ceramics, telecommunications equipment, office document imaging equipment, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools, and components for medical and dental implant systems.Kyocera Solar Corp. in Japan was founded in 1996, and Kyocera Solar, Inc. in the U.S. in 1999.The company has production bases in Japan, Mexico, Europe and China and is planning a factory in California as well.The company plans to reach 1000 MW of production by 2013.
July 4, 2011
Sharp,the Japanese Zaibatsu known more for its Electronics Products is also the world’s No 1 Company in terms Solar Module Revenues.Sharp has been the solar world leader since the past 4-5 years despite stiff competition recently from upcoming Chinese Crystalline Solar (c-Si) players and Thin Film Leader First SolarSharp’s c-Si division is not cost competitive with the Chinese and Taiwanese companies as its cost structure is almost 30-40% higher than the cheapest Chinese producers.Though the quality of Sharp’s crystalline silicon modules is considered much better,the cost difference has become too big in a rapidly commoditizing industry.While companies like Masdar are abandoning their Thin Film plans,Sharp has started shipping a-Si modules from its 1 GW capacity plant in Sakai.With its established distribution strengths and technological abilities in LCD Technology,Sharp is one company that can survive the c-Si onslaught.
July 4, 2011
Some very basic terms & their definitions used in context with the Indian Income Tax are given below:
ASSESSEE - is any person who is required to pay Income tax or any other sum payable under the Income Tax Act being interest, penalty etc.
ASSESSMENT YEAR - is the period comprising of twelve months starting on 1st of April & ending on 31st March of the next year. Assessment year succeeds the financial year. For eg. For the FY 2011-2012, the AY will be 2012-2013.
July 4, 2011
India has become the third country in the world to start a National Green Tribunal (NGT) which is a judicial body exclusively meant to judge environmental cases.Note Environment has become the one of the most important issues in the country affecting the broader society.Alongwith Land Acquisition,environment has become the most frequent conflict flashpoint.There have been numerous case where large industries have been confronted by local people fighting for the environement.Recent cases like the Vedanta Bauxite smelter in Orissa,Thermal Power Plants in Andhra Pradesh,the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant in Maharashtra have seen huge controversy and protests.Note Vedanta Resources has found itself in the centre of controversy over mining bauxite in Niyamgiri Hills which are held sacred by the Dongria Kondh tribal group.With powerful political and bureaucratic patrons,Vedanta has managed to ride roughshod over Tribal Rights.
Having a National Green Tribunal (NGT) has become essential for the country so that development can proceed with peace between various stakeholders .Note normal judges and courts don't have the expertise to understand the massive complexities and intricacies involved in billion dollar industrial projects and their impact on the environment.The NGT will have each judge having an environmental expert to guide him/her on the ecological issues so that they can come to an informed judgment.
July 4, 2011
Solar Panels are rapidly becoming a widespread commodity like shoes and clothes and will even become more of a consumer product in days to come when solar panels in offices and homes becomes a common sight.Just like other consumer products there are a wide type of solar panels on sale.Note in Germany solar panels are already frequently seen on the roofs of most houses.Prices of solar panels have fallen tremendously in the past couple of years due to declining costs amongst Chinese producers of solar panels.Just like Chinese made clothes,toys and electronics have captured most of the market globally,so to Chinese wholesale solar panel sellers have captured most of the global market.While Sharp,Sunpower and a few other Western,Japanese companies have managed to survive,the majority of the global supply of solar panels is now done by Chinese solar panel wholesale providers.
July 4, 2011
Dye sensitized solar cells are next-generation solar cells based on innovative technology. Unlike conventional silicon-based solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells consist primarily of photosensitive dye and other substances. A dye-sensitized solar cell is a low-cost solar cell. This cell is also known as the Gratzel cell & was invented by Michael Gratzel and Brian O'Regan. It is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo-sensitized anode and an electrolyte, a photoelectrochemical system. It belongs to the group of thin film solar cells.
July 4, 2011
India's Supreme Court took the matter of hundreds of billions of dollars of Black Money stashed into foreign bank accounts into its own hands as the government has repeatedly failed to take any action stalling the case.The Indian government led by the Congress Party has been repeatedly blasted by the Supreme Court for not acting against corruption matters.Recently the Court in an unprecedented move took over the supervision of the CBI in 2G Telecom Scandal Case Investigation.Note CBI is under the Home Ministry and like other investigations was being tardy to take action government ministers.The 2G Telecom case has resulted in top ministers and corporate CEOs being jailed with prospects of more being convicted.
July 4, 2011
Green Banking in India has started increasing at a rapid pace as concerns over Global Warming increase.Most of India's Banks are pushing for Clean Technology in their separate ways.Though there is lack of regulation on funding of environment friendly projects,Banks are pushing ahead on their own anyway.India's Financial Sector has seen the writing on the wall as the largest bank SBI is using Wind Energy for captive consumption to reduce its carbon footprint.The Bank is also reducing the interest rates for Green Projects beside helping in carbon consulting of customers.SBI is also implementing thousands of Green Kiosks to reduce the need for paper.ICICI Bank is helping funding research in clean technology using TFD while Canara Bank has funded almost 50,000 units of Solar Lighting .
July 4, 2011
Fly Ash Pollution of nearby water bodies had forced the Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) to issue a notice to the massive 3000 MW NTPC Talcher Thermal Power Plant.While the notice asked for immediate shutdown of 4 untis of 500 MW,NTPC has only closed down 1 unit citing that closing more units will lead to massive power disruptions in nearby states.The action comes following NTPC bad fly ash managment system which has led to two past incidences of water pollution.There was a danger that the massive amounts of fly ash being generated would lead to breakdown of the storage dykes and lead to more pollution.
July 4, 2011
Indian Electricity Companies are crying for a bailout from the government after coal prices surged last year amidst shortages of coal.Note before the Lehman crisis,Indian private […]
July 4, 2011
Japan is now looking to develop mines in Vietnam and Kazakhstan to secure these minerals which are essential to the green and defense industries.The desperation seems high amongst the Japanese as they are also looking to prospect for these minerals in the seas surrounding Japan.Besides these efforts to secure these minerals from newer sources,METI is also looking to recycling and efficiency measures.A University of Tokyo geologist has said that around 100 billon of rare earth deposits have been discoverd on the sea floor of the Pacific in international waters.Note around 100-150,000 tons of rare earth minerals are used per year which would imply that just using this deposit would keep the global rare earth demand supplied for 10,000 years.
July 4, 2011
Not only that but with the loss of political power,Sun TV executives can no longer manage to intimidate the industry.The Sun TV COO Saxena was hauled off to jail in a cheating case filed by a film producer.Note this would have never happened in the earlier DMK regime as the police would have refused to even lodge a case let alone put Saxena in jail.Crony Capitalism is not without its dangers and betting on these stocks is not a great idea.The reason is that once the political party loses power which happens quite frequently in India then the businesses close to that party come under serious fire.Note Dayanidhi Maran is also facing the heat in the 2G Scam where he has been accused of amassing huge amounts of money by favoring close promoters.When he was the Telecom Minister the whole Sun TV group of companies used state telecom infrastructure for free.The whole lesson from this is that betting on stocks/companies close to the ruling party might not be a good idea.In fact opening an event driven hedge fund might be a good idea using power changes in crony capitalist democracies.Thanksin stocks are rallying Thailand today as his sister has won the elections.
July 4, 2011
South Korea’s Hyundai Industries which is known more for its ship building and heavy engineering ,is also making a big push into the Green Energy Space.Like its South Korean peers,Hyundai is also preferring to enter this space through Solar Energy.Hyundai has already established a 600 MW Solar Cell and Solar Panel Factory making it the largest South Korean manufacturer.Hanwha Solar One is the largest producer of solar panels but it makes most of those in China through its subsidiary Solarfun.Hyundai had earlier bought solar cell equipment from Germany’s Centrotherm as far back as 2008 and had entered a long term contract with LDK Solar for buying solar wafers as raw material for its cell lines.Note Hyundai Heavy has also heavily invested in the Wind Turbine Industry.Hyundai Heavy has started producing 2.5 MW Turbines from a 500 MW Plant in Geoje Island in South Korea.Hyundai Heavy is amongst the many South Korean Chaebols making a big push into Solar Energy like LG and Hanwha.
July 4, 2011
Asset Management Companies in India have come a long way since the preliberalization era when only the government owned Unit Trust of India was the sole option for Indian investors.Like the other Finance Companies in India,Investment Management Companies too have grown massively in size as well as numbers.The massive Indian market which is still quite primitive in terms of financial inclusion has attracted a host of domestic and foreign investment companies.Only 4–5 per cent of household assets are in mutual funds and the top eight cities in terms of households penetrated account for 75 per cent of retail AUMs.there are only about 35 fund ‘families’ in India, as compared to the global numbers like 700-odd fund ‘familes’ in the US, 60 fund ‘families’ in China and around 70 in Japan.The Lehman crisis took a toll on the weaker asset managers but the industry continues to thrive as modernization of the Indian economy will lead to a transfer of asset from the informal sector to the formal sector.The Total Assets under Management in India as of June 2011 stands at Rs 7.43 lakh crore ($160 billion).The industry has 43 active players with Reliance MF being the largest investment company in India followed by HDFC MF.