Solar Headlines

• Sales at € 402 million in third quarter up 20% on previous quarter
• EBIT at € 37 million in third quarter and € 55 million in first nine months of the year
• Restructuring completed and financing secured
• Full year sales guidance increased to more than € 1.3 billion

Q-Cells SE has taken advantage of strong demand and stable pricing in the t

Panasonic Corp. is receiving “strong responses” from automakers as it seeks new buyers for batteries to be used in electric cars, a company official said.

SunPower Corp trimmed its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to reflect pressure on margins and unveiled plans to issue 200 million euros of bonds in one of the solar industry's first major debt sales.

SunPower's debt plans reflect the industry's increasing need to find alternative sources of capital to finance multibillion-dollar expansion plans. It aims to raise 200 million euros in two tranches of a bond offering to finance a project in Italy known as Montalto 44.

Solar company SunPower Corp reported higher third-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street forecasts, and its shares rose slightly in post-market trade.

Net profit was $20.1 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $19.5 million, or 20 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time charges, earnings per share of 26 cents topped the 13 cents that analysts had forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Solar-Fabrik AG improved their EBIT in the first three quarters of 2010 to 11.418 million euros (previous year: -1.152 million euros). The nine month income reached 9.248 million euros (previous year: -7.309 million euros), representing earnings per share of EUR 0.78 (previous year: EUR -0.63).

• Total sales in Q1-Q3/2010 increased tremendously to EUR 1.4 billion, EUR 627 million of which were realized in Q3
• Capacity limit almost reached in the third quarter due to improved availability of electronic components
• 5.7 GW inverter output sold in the first nine months
• EBIT of EUR 418 million generated (EBIT margin 29 %)
• Earnings per share improved to EUR 8.
  

• Revenues rise 85% to €404.6 million
• Revenue distribution shifted in favor of the power plant business
• More than 50% of sales generated outside of Germany
• EBIT loss of €5.3 million weighed by special factor from the project business
• Net loss after minority interests at €17.4 million

Berlin-base

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. today announced that it has priced its previously announced public offering. Ascent Solar is offering 5.25 million shares of its common stock at $4.15 per share to the public. Ascent Solar has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 787,500 additional shares of common stock from Ascent Solar. The net proceeds from the offering are expected to be approximately $20.25 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by Ascent Solar.

Group Receives Deloitte “Sustained Excellence Award”

Toyota Motor Corp's compact electric car due to go on sale in 2012 will have a range of more than 100 km (62 miles) on a full charge and a top speed of about 120 km (75 miles) per hour, the Chunichi newspaper said on Thursday.

Toyota said in early 2009 it would sell a compact electric car in the United States from 2012 based on the FT-EV concept car, which shares vehicle underpinnings with the tiny iQ urban commuter car. It gave few other details on the car.