Solar News: First Solar Inc (FSLR)’s Big Announcement, SunPower Corporation (SPWR) & MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (WFR)

Page 3 of 3

LDK Default Sends Alarm Across The Market (SolarPVInvestor)
LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) recent announcement of debt default sends shockwaves across the market. The once-shining star of the solar PV industry is showing signs of becoming the first mover of a destructive chain reaction that could affect key industry players – another sign that the PV industry is undergoing a harsh winter that has seen giants brought down to their knees. On Tuesday (April 16th), LDK announced default on its convertible bonds valued at 24 million USD. The news came after two years of continuous capital injection from the city government of Xinyu, of China’s Jiangxi province, where LDK is based, as well as after the company’s numerous attempts at self-rescue through debt restructuring and asset liquidation.

LDK Enters Insolvency; GM to Build Four More Plants in China (TheChinaPerspective)
LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK), the world’s second biggest solar panel maker, posted $517 million in net losses for Q4 2012 after it sold products at extremely low prices for cash to pay for heavy debts. The seventh consecutive unprofitable quarter makes the company the worst performer in the industry, even worse than Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE:STP), which was declared bankrupt last month after defaulting on a $541 million bond repayment. LDK had $5.42 billion in liabilities as of the end of 2012, overshadowing its $5.28 billion worth of assets. It failed to fully repay the $23.8 million of maturing convertible bonds last week. …General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) plans to build four new plants in China in the next three years, boosting its annual capacity in the country to five million vehicles, GM China president Bob Socia said at the Shanghai auto show.

Bearish bets surge on China ETF (FinancialPost)
Bets on declines in the largest Chinese exchange-traded fund are surging to the highest level since 2007 on concern a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy will stifle company earnings. …LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK), once the world’s second-biggest maker of wafers used in solar panels, slipped 11 percent to $1.08 last week after it reported a seventh consecutive loss in the fourth quarter. Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE:STP), whose main unit was forced into bankruptcy after defaulting on a $541 million bond repayment last month, declined 13 percent to 65 cents.

Yingli Green Energy’s Multicrystalline Module Ranks High in PHOTON Module Yield Test 2012 (Azom)
At the PHOTON outdoor test field in Aachen, Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YGE)’s flagship multicrystalline module (the YGE 60 Cell Series, YL240P-29b) generated an annual yield of 1,118.7 kilowatt-hours per kilowatt. According to the test result, the performance ratio of Yingli Green Energy’s module reached 93.1% and exceeded that of the winner from the same test in 2011 by 2.8%. This performance ratio indicates what percentage of the incoming solar irradiance converts into electricity and determines the ranking in the Test. The 60 Cell Series that was tested is technically and materially similar to other popular multicrystalline product lines, including the Company’s 48 Cell Series for residential, the utility-scale module lines, YGE 72 Cell Series and YGE U-Series, as well as YGE-Z Series (with a proprietary Zep Solar frame).

Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:YGE), Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) (MeshPress)
Holeinonestocks.net, an investor research portal specializing in several sectors including biotech and healthcare and tech stocks on the U.S. market, issues news updates on the following stock:- Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YGE) shares increased 4.04% to $2.06. The company, on April 19, announced that the Company ranked third among ninety well-known manufacturers worldwide in the PHOTON Module Yield Test 2012 (the “Test”) conducted from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.

First Solar and Yingli Green billed as suppliers to NextEra’s downsized Blythe solar farm (PV-Tech)
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s 1GW plans for the Blythe solar farm in California, once expected to be the world’s largest solar energy power plant, have been cut in half to make the project viable. Documents submitted to the California Energy Commission as part of the revised permitting procedures reveale that the project is now being planned as a 485MW plant, using modules from First Solar and/or Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YGE). NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has worked with First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) on other projects.

Page 3 of 3