Ascent Solar Technologies neue Arise?

Through a proprietary process, Ascent is able to place a razor-thin coating of "CIGS" (copper-indium-gallium-diselinde) onto a plastic substratum. This material can be manufactured into light-weight rolls. In contrast to older technology, which is based on expensive silicon and placed on relatively inflexible metal, Ascent's large rolls allow for direct installation into building materials.

Ascent's manufacturing process reduces the number of solar modules necessary to create a roof. Wires, cable, junction boxes and conduits necessary with other products are significantly lessened. CIGS can convert sun to energy at an efficiency rate of up to 19.5%, while the efficiency of silicon peaks at about 12%. Since the solar technology can be directly integrated into building products, the cost of solar panel installation can be dramatically lowered.

These innovations potentially give Ascent an important competitive advantage in conventional applications such as on residential roofs. They also make its product well-suited for use in spacecraft and high-altitude aircraft. That fact has been recognized by several grants from the U.S. Air Research Laboratory, which has had a relationship with ITN since 1995 and recently funded Ascent with a research grant to the tune of $749,000.

Brian Blackman, Ascent's head of Investor Relations, told SmallCapInvestor.com the importance of military business will grow after 2011, when Ascent has significant production capacity.

This fall Ascent will take its technology into pilot production when a 1.5 megawatt [MW] plant comes on stream. The first of four 25 MW manufacturing facilities is planned for 2009. Ascent recently raised $21.6 million to fund construction.

This week Ascent teams up with Norway-based Hydro (NYSE: NHY), the second-largest provider of building systems in the world, to introduce its prototype solar systems at Batimat in Paris, the world’s largest building exhibition. Hydro has a 23% stake in Ascent, with an option to raise its position to 35%. That relationship not only gives Ascent a ready-made market and channel of distribution, but also some potentially deep pockets if future funds are needed for expansion.

While Ascent appears to have enormous potential, one must decide whether it makes sense to buy the stock now. Clearly, Ascent is richly valued from a fundamental perspective. The two analysts who follow the stock project the company to have only $2.47 million in revenue in 2008. These analysts also estimate that the company will lose $0.65 in 2007 and $0.39 in 2008 when pilot production comes on stream. It will be several years before Ascent is profitable. With an astronomical price-to-sales ratio of 398, the company clearly trades on its potential, not its current results.

Aside from valuation, there are more general risks. If peace were to break out in the Middle East, or a severe recession were to hit, crude oil prices could fall sharply. That would severely damage the momentum in solar stocks, especially in the short-term. Big players in a variety of industries are also eyeing the solar space. Energy giants like BP (NYSE: BP) and Shell (NYSE: RDS.A)already have entered solar. General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) acquired the assets of a bankrupt solar equipment company AstroPower to gain a foothold as well.

Because of the high fundamental valuation, the insights of technical analysis can be helpful in making a decision about the stock. ASTI is currently in an extremely strong uptrend. It is well above its rising 40-week moving average, a signature of a strong bullish move; currently, the moving average is at $9.31. The stock also should have important support near $11.30, a level which held Ascent in check between April and September.

Traders might want to wait for a pullback to near the $12 level before entering a position. The danger, of course, is that pullback may never come. On Friday ASTI broke through $20 on volume of nearly 886,000 shares, compared with an average three-month daily volume of about 568,000 shares. The 52-week high is $20.54, established on Oct. 19.

Ascent Solar is clearly not a stock for the faint of heart. However, the company has the potential to reward both the investor and the short-term trader—in short, Ascent (ASTI) could provide a ground floor opportunity for your portfolio to go through the roof.

Building News  

www.azobuild.com/news.asp?newsID=4774

Energy Savings by Incorporating Photovoltaics into Aluminium Building Systems


Hydro will introduce at Batimat 2007 in Paris a new way of using photovoltaics in its aluminium building systems, which can achieve significant savings in energy consumption.
The prototype “solar systems” are among the collection of new products that Hydro will showcase at the international building exhibition, which begins November 5 and continues through November 10 at the Paris Expo.

"There are innovations in these products that can bring the future closer to today,” says Lars Hauk Ringvold, who is responsible for Hydro’s aluminium building systems activities.

Visitors to the company’s displays at Batimat will see windows, doors, balcony railings and facades that have integrated photovoltaic systems. “With such systems built into relevant products, we have the potential to achieve energy savings above 60 percent,” says Ringvold.

The prototypes are the result of a successful pre-project between Hydro and Ascent Solar Technologies, a Denver-based company which manufactures the flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules. Hydro owns 23 percent of Ascent Solar.

“Ascent’s solar modules provide a simple, elegant and architecturally attractive means to incorporate photovoltaics into buildings,” says Ringvold.

Matthew Foster, Ascent Solar’s president and CEO, says the company is “excited about all the innovative applications that Hydro has already envisioned for our modules. Our collective vision is to make solar power a transparent and pervasive element in the everyday lives of people throughout the world.”

More debuts at Batimat
Hydro will be represented by three of its brands – Architectural Systems, Technal, Wicona – at the French exhibition. All three will feature integrated solar module building systems.

However, the brands will also introduce other new products, each in line with Batimat’s theme of sustainable development. These include:

Windows with motorized systems for functionally disabled
Energy-saving surface treatment solutions
Modular concepts for residential homes
Batimat is the world’s largest building exhibition, with construction equipment and materials suppliers together under one roof. The theme of year’s event, which will draw some 2,700 exhibitors from 49 countries, is sustainable development.

Hydro is Europe's preferred supplier of aluminium building systems, and delivers to scores of other countries around the globe. Its three international brands - Domal, Technal and Wicona - cover the whole range of system products.

Based on its long experience in materials technology and renewable energy, Hydro is also investing in solar energy with partner companies, such as Ascent Solar, to develop new technologies and manufacturing processes at facilities in Europe and the US.

Posted November 6th, 2007