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Solar power will be a bright investment prospect

reuters.com — In the short term, the sector will also have to contend with a shortage of silicon, a key ingredient for solar cells that turn sunlight into electricity, and possible changes in political support as elections take place.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 24, 2008

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  • WatchDogX, on 02/24/2008, -0/+13The point is silicon comes from sand
  • Alex2, on 02/24/2008, -2/+14Shortage of Silicon? Sounds like there will be a war in one of those desert covered countries with lots of sand....
    No war for silicon!
  • JasonMaloney101, on 02/24/2008, -3/+14Sorry, correct response is "I see what you did there."
  • centran, on 02/24/2008, -1/+10Um... shortage on silicon?
    From wikipedia
    On Earth, silicon is the second most abundant element (after oxygen) in the crust,[1] making up 25.7% of the crust by mass.
  • merper, on 02/24/2008, -0/+8..........
    Silicone is not silicon used in semiconductors. The sand on the beach is not silicon used in semiconductors. Si in raw form has to be purified and doped before it can be used as a semiconductor. The processes to do so are complex, very energy intensive and hard to scale quickly. Until recently the only customer was the microelectronics industry and compared to solar they needed only scraps of silicon for their ICs. It'll take a while for the Silicon producers to start matching the need produced by the growth in solar.

    If you want to post slightly less retard comments on the next solar thread, I suggest scanning this article first:

    http://www.healthgoods.com/Education/Energy_Inform ...
  • MikeSD34, on 02/24/2008, -1/+8Solar panels aren't the only form of solar. It's great in urban environments (roof tops), which are wasted space anyway. There are other alternatives though like solar towers, which are surrounded by arrays of mirrors which concentrate light on the central tower. This light heats up a material to a rather startling level, and this heat is used to generate steam to turn a turbine. It's a great technology in unusable spaces like the desert regions in Arizona.
  • bullox, on 02/24/2008, -0/+6I can't hear *****.
  • LeeSoong, on 02/24/2008, -0/+5Except for the Solar PAINT - that doesn't need a lot of silicon, as developed by Google investments and covered on digg weeks ago...

    http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2006/06/20/nano ...

    http://www.nanosolar.com/products.htm
  • pstroll, on 02/24/2008, -0/+5Finally we have a new bubble to be scammed into! Dot Com -> Housing -> Solar Stocks!!!
  • Fratz, on 02/24/2008, -0/+4Can someone tell me how there could ever be a shortage of silicon when it's in sand and every rock on the planet? Does it take that much time to process it into something usable for solar cells?
  • edebolt, on 02/24/2008, -0/+3they are talking about processed silicon. it takes factories and fabrication capacity to crank out silicon products. There is even more hydrogen than silicon in nature but very little hydrogen capacity now so its expensive and in shortage.
  • stonebear, on 02/24/2008, -0/+3Don't forget copper.
  • dooms13, on 02/24/2008, -0/+2This is all well and good but I agree with the authors of this article, http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand- ... We need to get the government on board to subsidize the project. Once people are given solar power as a reliable option to fossil fuels, I think that most will see the benefit of changing over. This is sort of obvious by the article presented here.
  • stonebear, on 02/24/2008, -0/+2Cash is king for the next 2-3 years, while the banks consolidate. This looks like a great place to put it, if you've got it.
  • leexy, on 02/24/2008, -0/+2Sand is also known as silicon dioxide.
  • 0crabby0, on 02/24/2008, -0/+2It's not the price of silicon that's going to affect cell prices this year, it's aluminum and steel.
  • Ogopogo, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1No, silicone is the stuff that comes in squeeze tubes,
    silicon is hard and shiny, used to make IC's and transistors.
  • mousky, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1"possible changes in political support as elections take place"

    Translation: government subsidies.

    Those government subsidies for ethanol have done wonders for food and feed prices.
  • Enderplayer1, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1and it gets in your shoes when you go to the beach...
  • vertinox, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Solar stocks already burst in January.
    Besides Nanosolar isn't planning on going public.
  • jamessavik, on 02/25/2008, -0/+1Solar energy will help with our transition to another energy source but I sincerely doubt that it is an answer unto itself.
  • haydesigner, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1I would say FAIL, but that is as annoying, unfunny, and as lacking in any semblance of wit as what you wrote (if not more so).
  • bullox, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1It's called silicone.
  • yellowsnowcone, on 02/24/2008, -1/+2solar stocks have already had their bubble ... like two years ago ...http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=STP&t=1y
  • bbarker, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Not necessarily.
    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=FSLR&t=2y&l=off&z= ...
  • inactive, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Dude this train has already sailed. Solar shot it's load in 07
  • TheDarkstarter, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1I was waiting for that joke.
  • Ploosheeta, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Heh. The title is punny.
  • crazywarthog, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Yes ... your Big Government has bet on ethanol a loser. It will go down in history as a waste of time, wasting 100s of billions of dollars, making the corporate farmer richer and starving the world's poor due to huge increases in food prices.
  • bthug7, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1ha yeah the current -1 diggs is givin me a mental high. No I actually just wanted to see if there really was 100x men on here then women.
  • 0crabby0, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1You are absolutely correct - My bad...
  • Ferretman, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Given that we have that big fusion reactor nearby and all....
  • leexy, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Digg the parent up, people. You should start thinking in terms of polymers and other materials. Grätzel cells are extremely and easy cheap to make (heck, I can make them at home if my kitchen oven was more powerful!), and barely absorb more light than a regular tainted glass. It would be perfect for such applications. At least, once they figure out how to extend their relatively short lifetime...
  • XZanatos, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Fortunately silicon in solar panels does not need to be as pure as it does for microchips. Once a few dedicated factories are built solely for solar-silicon uses then we can expect the price to drop noticeably.
  • jamessavik, on 02/25/2008, -0/+1What about night and cloudy days?

    Solar power WILL help in the transition but it isn't the answer.
  • TheMachine1, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0Just remember to sale before the bubble explodes.
  • TJ11240, on 02/24/2008, -1/+1You understand the point of PV is to capture the light, correct?
  • uberdilly, on 02/24/2008, -1/+1100% on sunpower in 6 months
  • creativepragmat, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0One thing that articles like this one seem to miss is how solar is likely to be a main driver of the hydrogen economy and will also be crucial for powering desalinization plants.

    http://www.solarheadlines.com/node/3158
  • TheMachine1, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0Investors just need to remember their are other viable solar technologies. Like solar water heating.
  • DifferentAngle, on 02/24/2008, -1/+1I think it'd also be interesting if they could make some mostly-transparent solar panels to use as windows for skyscrapers. Usually those windows are already tinted - why not put the energy to use?
  • prettyinblue, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0sustainable, green energy, i feel is the new buzz word. don't get me wrong, i understand that it's good for the environment but it still is business.
  • LarsJames, on 02/24/2008, -3/+3Shortage of silicon? What will the strippers do???
  • cowsgonemadd3, on 02/24/2008, -3/+3Isnt silicone in implants? Use it for something useful like solar.
  • paulotto2007, on 02/25/2008, -0/+0No it's not the answer unto itself but it will help. I think the big challenge is to bring down upfront costs to any homeowner or business that wants to install solar panels. Once that happens a lot more people will go for it, particularly in areas that get a lot of sun year round. The exciting part is the possibilities of homeowners sending power back to the grid.
  • Nitrodist88, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0Oh, if it was covered on digg weeks ago then it's a different story all together!
  • precaryus, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0Raw Silicon is very different from the highly processed form needed for si-based solar cells. When the process is scaled up the shortages will go away. Alternatives to si-based are coming on strong though in the form of polymer-based products that are nanometers in thickness and can be printed on a roll or even sprayed on.
  • KingGorilla, on 02/24/2008, -1/+1strip?
  • jimbo92107, on 02/24/2008, -0/+0Great investment? You bet!
    All you have to do is guess which company will invent the "next big thing" in solar cells, then pour all your money into that company.
    What could be simpler?
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