Thursday, March 26, 2009

Red Chinese Say "Let a Million Solar Panels Bloom!"

It seems that the Red Chinese are getting serious when it comes to a renewable future.

According to a statement on a Chinese government website, solar projects larger than 50 kilowatts of output will be eligible for a subsidy of about $2.90 per watt.

"We believe meaningful upside potential exists if government support for domestic solar sector continues," a Barclays analyst wrote in a research note, adding the move could boost Chinese demand by about 200 megawatts starting in the second half of 2009, a nearly four-fold increase from Barclays' projection for this year.

That $2.90 per watt figure is supposed to cover 60% of the cost of installing these things. So suddenly the biggest market in the world is now subsidizing the cost of their own solar panels. The Chinese don't do these things by half measures and the potential for solar penetration in China is vast. Imagine how many solar plants could be built in the Gobi desert alone?

This should be great news for Chinese solar companies which have been hammered with both Germany and Spain falling into recessions. Chinese solar stocks which went ape today. Shorts get out now because the solar space will jump off this news.

Chinese-based companies were the biggest gainers, with Trina Solar Ltd (TSL.N) up 40 percent at $12.14 per share, Suntech Power Holdings (STP.N), up 40 percent at $10.96, LDK Solar Co (LDK.N), up 36 percent at $8.00, Yingli Green Energy (YGE.N) up 39 percent at $5.75, Solarfun Power Holdings (SOLF.O) up 26 percent at $4.48 and Canadian Solar (CSIQ.O), up 23 percent at $5.95

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