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Editorial: What Do We Look Like to the Outside World?
... Lacking a better barometric tool, the CS Model Portfolio of ten compound semi (CS) industry publicly-held companies traded on the USA's Nasdaq stock exchange reveals that Anadigics and Aixtron currently ranks as the big winners since beginning this project in '05. At the bottom of the big ten CS...
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IBM and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Collaborate to Make Solar Energy Affordable and Easy
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 18, 2008...IBM of Yorktown Heights, New York USA, and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TOK) are working together to develop and bring to market low-cost next generation solar energy products. The companies want to produce solar energy products that are more affordable and easier to install than those that are available.
TOK and IBM have agreed to jointly develop processes, materials, and equipment suitable for the production of CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) solar cell modules. They can be put on cheap glass substrates instead of silicon and they have higher efficiency. IBM acknowledges that the cost per kW hour of the electricity from current photovoltaics is an inhibitor to a more widespread adoption of solar energy. IBM Research reports the development of new, non-vacuum, solution-based manufacturing processes for CIGS solar cells that can be put on flexible backing. IBM says it is targeting efficiencies around 15% and higher compared to current thin film product efficiencies that vary from around 6% to less than 12%. IBM contends that combining its technology with the proven coating technique and high purity chemicals of TOK has the potential to bring the large scale production of thin-film solar cells to market.
"Our goal is to develop more efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost, minimize the complexity, and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power," said Dr. Tze-Chiang Chen, IBM Vice President of Science and Technology, IBM Research. IBM is also researching silicon solar cells and concentrator solar cells. IBM News Release TriQuint Semiconductor Unveils GaN Products; GaN Foundry to Begin Service in September
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 18, 2008...TriQuint Semiconductor of Hillsboro, Oregon USA, has released its first GaN power transistors. The company says that they are ideal for a range of high frequency applications including mobile base stations and defense and space communication systems. In addition, the company announced the opening of its new GaN foundry service. The company says that customers are lining up to produce their circuit designs for when full production of their products will begin in September 2008.
TriQuint points out that gallium nitride (GaN) amplifiers allow greater power density (wattage per square millimeter), are smaller in size and weight, and reduce energy consumption for communication applications. According to TriQuint, the benefits lead to better performance and lower overall system costs for the customer.
TriQuint’s first high frequency GaN device family is being introduced at the IEEE IMS MTT-S microwave symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, June 15-20. The new series of discrete die-level GaN-based devices boast up to 2.5-times the power density of high voltage gallium arsenide devices. They operate up to 18 GHz, have 55% power added efficiency (PAE), and can produce up to 90 Watts of output power. The company says that the amplifiers with the technology can operate more efficiently and at higher voltages. Company News Release San Francisco Passes Country’s Largest Municipal Solar Incentive Program
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 18, 2008...On June 10, the city of San Francisco passed legislation that would give incentives to residents, non-profits, and commercial businesses that choose to install solar panels.
With the mayor’s signature, the city of San Francisco has officially backed the largest city-funded solar incentive program in the United States.
The law will provide $3,000 to $6,000 per project in tax credits to San Francisco residents to put solar modules on their roofs. It provides up to $10,000 to non-profits and businesses that install solar power, and it offers up $30,000 for solar installed in non-profit affordable housing. The city’s experts estimate that the remaining cost for private residents after the $6000 tax credit incentive would be about $2000, and this amount could be well within reach of many residents’ creditcards.
Mayor Newsom said that the goal of the program was to make San Francisco a solar leader in both adoption and in local business whose success would be analogous to Berlin, Germany in terms of the solar adoption and the industry that has taken hold there. Berlin’s success has been backed by big financial incentives.
"Less than 1,000 rooftops in San Francisco have solar installed," said legislative co-sponsor and champion Supervisor Bevan Dufty. "Not only will this program significantly expand solar in the City, but it will also provide much-needed meaningful employment to the workers being trained to join the new green economy." City of San Francisco News Release June 18, 2008...RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) of Atlanta, Georgia USA released a 5.8 GHz ISM band transceiver with an integrated power amplifier. According to RFMD, the ML5805 is a low-IF, frequency shift key (FSK) transceiver designed for operation in the license-free 5.8 GHz ISM band. The company notes that proprietary point-to-point and point-to-multi-point radios using 5.8 GHz ISM band transceivers are increasingly being implemented in consumer applications such as wireless audio, wireless video, and data connectivity.
The ML5805 has a power amplifier (PA), a low noise amplifier (LNA), and the transceiver architecture on a single chip. RFMD says that the ML5805's unique design allows easy implementation for radio designers and a minimal external bill-of-materials (BOM) count. The company contends it also decrease the time-to-market for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The ML5805 provides even more flexibility by offering five, digitally selectable data rates ranging from 576 Kbps up to 2.048 Mbps for a broad range of applications. The ML5805 is RFMD's first product to incorporate the Company's proprietary FastWave microcontroller technology, which improves performance through value-add features including self-alignment of the low-IF receiver and phase locked loop (PLL) detection and control. Company News Release GE Becomes Majority Shareholder In Emerging Solar Technology Company
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 16, 2008...GE Energy of Schenectady, New York USA, an energy services provider for more than a century, announced that it has increased its equity share in PrimeStar Solar, Inc. PrimeStar Solar is an emerging solar thin-film technology and manufacturing company in which GE already held a minority equity share as announced in September 2007. The increased equity share has made GE Energy the company’s majority shareholder. PrimeStar Solar, headquartered in Golden, Colorado USA, was formed in June 2006 to develop and commercialize cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film photovoltaic modules. The company has 60 employees, including a core management team that it says has more than 100 years of thin-film equipment and process experience.
"Increasing our stake in PrimeStar Solar to a majority interest underscores our continuing commitment to solar energy. GE Energy believes that renewable resources, including wind and solar, will play an ever increasing role in the future of the global energy industry," said Victor Abate, vice president of renewables, GE Energy.
The purchase of an increased stake in the solar business is just the latest in GE Energy’s increasing focus on solar. GE indicated that solar is playing an increasing role in its renewable energy portfolio and is expected to grow even more as energy costs continue to rise. GE's renewable energy portfolio also consists of wind and biomass technologies. It is reportedly U.S. supplier of wind turbines. GE Energy notes that its installed fleet of more than 8,500 1.5-megawatt wind turbines recently surpassed 115 million operating hours in commercial service worldwide. GE Energy News Release Sustainable Energy to Partner With Opel for Solar Concentrator Project
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 16, 2008...Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd., a maker of power inverters, announced today that it will partner with Opel International to install and monitor a high concentration solar power system in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The 5Kw trial system will combine its Sunergy CPV inverter, Opel’s Mark I high concentration photovoltaic modules, and the OPEL-FEiNA dual-axis tracker. Procurement for the installation, which will be owned and operated by the City of Medicine Hat, is set to begin immediately, enabling operational testing during the important summer season. Sustainable Energy's recently announced Sunergy CPV inverter reportedly helps improve total system level performance and economics of solar concentrator technologies. The company says it currently has trials underway with two leading Spanish project developers and several others are planned. Sustainable Energy also recently also announced that it will partner with industry leader Ingeteam S.A. to jointly market their inverters for solar concentrator projects in Europe and North America.
"We are very excited about working with Opel and Medicine Hat in this project, which will help us to better understand the unique operating characteristics of CPV concentrators, and to optimize our CPV inverter software. It will also provide an important demonstration of the value of solar concentrator technology for Western Canada," said Michael Carten President & CEO of Sustainable Energy. Company News Release Cree Debuts GaN/SiC-based MMICs, Foundry Service, and MMIC Process Design KitJune 16, 2008...Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina USA has introduced what it says is the first commercially viable GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit. According to Cree the two MMICs integrate the company’s proven GaN RF transistor technology with other circuit elements to form fully integrated amplifier circuits. Cree points out that this dramatically reduces size and increases performance compared to hybrid amplifiers. Many RF integrated circuits can now be identically replicated on a single silicon carbide (SiC) substrate in a production process similar to that used for commercial microprocessors. Cree notes that its new broadband power amplifier MMICs, the CMPA0060005 and CMPA2560025, are now available for sample release in packaged and die formats. The CMPA0060005 is a wideband 5 watt distributed DC amplifier. It can operated at up to 6GHz.
Cree has also announced the expansion of its standard full-wafer (SFW) MMIC Foundry service to include shared multi-project (SMP) "pizza mask" foundry runs on a quarterly basis. This SMP service is available for both SiC MESFET and GaN HEMT MMIC processes. The Cree GaN kit includes microstrip lines, discontinuities, scalable capacitors, inductors and resistors, pads, vias, airbridges and active devices (HEMTs) at multiple biases. Cree News Release
In other Cree news, the company has made available a process design kit using Agilents Advanced Design System EDA Software. Cree contends that the design kit shortens MMIC design cycles. The Cree GaN kit includes microstrip lines, discontinuities, scalable capacitors, inductors and resistors, pads, vias, airbridges and active devices (HEMTs) at multiple biases. Cree News Release Strategies Unlimited Predicts Continued Strong Growth in HB LEDs for Lighting
LIGHTimes StaffJune 12, 2008...Strategies Unlimited (SU), the premiere market analysis firm covering the LED industry, has begun accepting orders for its annual high brightness LED market review and forecast. Strategies Unlimited reports that the market for HB LEDs used for lighting applications is one of the fastest growing segments of the HB LED market. The company revealed that the market for HB LED lighting used in lighting applications has grown at a rate of 60 percent per year since 2006. According to SU, the report will provide an LED industry overview, and a listing of the companies involved in the HB LED industry. SU says its report will include market data and forecasts through 2012 broken out by material type, color, and package type. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Global Solar to Introduce Flexible CIGS Product as Drop-in Replacement for Solar Strings
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 11, 2008...Global Solar of Tucson, Arizona USA, has released details about its New PowerFlex Solar Strings that the company says simplify and speed the adoption of low-cost and highly-efficient flexible thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide technology. The company says that the PowerFlex Solar Strings are ideal for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) manufacturing (putting flexible solar cells on building materials). Global Solar will introduce its new product at the Intersolar 2008 conference in Munich, Germany on July 15-16.
The PowerFlex Solar Strings offer a pre-connected string of CIGS cells. The company says that this format makes it easy for product designers and module manufactures to incorporate CIGS technology. Global Solar notes that silicon-based module manufacturers must currently make large capital investments to switch to thin-film and leverage its advantages. Global Solar touts the PowerFlex Solar Strings as the industry’s first, drop-in replacement solar strings that make it easy for product and module companies to fit thin-film cells into their current manufacturing processes.
The company uses roll-to-roll manufacturing process to produce the cells for the PowerFlex Solar Strings on a bendable substrate. The cells are therefore able to be bent to fit various shapes, and it is adaptable to various sizes. “Thin-film photovoltaics are gaining attention and market share,” said Alfonso Velosa, research director at Gartner. “Roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, a method used by Global Solar Energy, have the potential to be a disruptive technology in the photovoltaic industry, helping to generate greater activity in BIPV application development.” Company News Release Delphi to Lead Team in Inverter Development for Hybrid, Electric, and Future Fuel Cell Vehicles
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 11, 2008...Delphi Corporation reports that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected it to lead an industry-government team to develop the next generation propulsion inverter for hybrid electric vehicles. The DOE expects that the inverter will also be used in next generation "plug-in" hybrids (PHEVs) and in the longer-term, the inverter will be used for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Inverters are used to convert direct current into multiphase alternating current that is needed to drive electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The Delphi-led research and design team will contribute $3 million and receive $5 million in DOE funding. The projects goal is to reduce inverter size the cost for electric propulsion systems by 50 percent or more.
Delphi will team with GeneSiC, General Electric, Dow Corning, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Argonne National Lab. Delphi will design, package, build, test, and assess the cost of manufacturing; Dow Corning and GeneSiC will design silicon carbide-on-silicon power semiconductor devices; General Electric will design the high-temperature thin-film DC buss capacitors; Argonne National Lab will develop the ceramic capacitors; and Oak Ridge National Lab will test and simulate the power semiconductor devices and evaluate alternative inverter types. Thomas Goesch, Delphi managing director of the Power Electronics PBU stated, "We have assembled a team of highly qualified industry leaders and nationallaboratories to identify and develop the key technologies needed for anelectric propulsion inverter that meets or exceeds the DOE performance andcost targets." Delphi News Release Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
What Do We Look Like to the Outside World?
Jo Ann McDonald, founding editorJune 10, 2008...Lacking a better barometric tool, the CS Model Portfolio of ten compound
semi (CS) industry publicly-held companies traded on the USA's Nasdaq stock
exchange reveals that Anadigics and Aixtron currently ranks as the big winners
since beginning this project in '05. At the bottom of the big ten CS rankings
are JDS Uniphase, RF MicroDevices, and Kopin. For facts, figures, opinion and
a personal perspective on it all, read on in this week's McDonald Report.
For those of you who weren't around compound semi circles in 2005, that was
when I began my retirement phase as a tradepress journalist and established
the CS Model Portfolio. Worse case, it would give me something to write about
in quiet times, like now. Best case, I might make a few extra pennies off the
stocks in the longrun. For sure I'd help provide outsiders with an insider's
view of the CS industry.
Let the record show that from April through July of 2005, I had my broker purchase
the basic minimum of 100 shares each of my pick of the publicly held companies
that were available for trade in 2005. Whereas journalists can't (or at least
shouldn't) purchase stock in the companies they cover, I learned that "commentators"
can, providing they disclose what they own, which I do via these periodic portfolio
updates. As founding editor of CompoundSemi News, and leaving that duty now
to our intrepid news editor, Scott McMahan, I now restrict my activities to
"commentary" and this is merely a "model portfolio," although
I wouldn't mind if it actually helped supplement my social security and Medicare
in my really advanced years. Hopefully the total investment will at least
earn me enough to pay for rising fuel costs. (Too bad the whole world doesn't
run on CS solar and CS advanced LEDs!)
The CS Model Portfolio currently includes (in alphabetical order, followed
by its Nasdaq trading symbol): Aixtron (AIXG) Anadigics (ANAD), AXT (AXTI),
Cree (CREE), Emcore (EMKR), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), Kopin (KOPN), RF MicroDevices
(RFMD), Spire (SPIR), and TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT). The portfolio has always
contained about ten to twelve stocks that I believe represent the "most
likely to succeed" and "hang in there for the long term" category
of our industry's publicly held players. Most of the companies confine their
activities to CS-based material, equipment and/or device work, the standout
exceptions being Spire and Kopin, which dabble outside our industry for bread
and butter product lines. But both those companies are so deeply rooted in helping
pioneer the CS industry and introducing it to the outside world that they simply
have to be included. What would an industry be without Spire's Roger Little
and Kopin's colorful John Fan?
While some of the original and subsequent portfolio companies have fallen by
the wayside over the last three years, and were thus eliminated from the portfolio
(with proper 30 day notice to readers), and whereby Color Kinetics and TIR Systems
were acquired by Philips and WJ Communications acquired by TriQuint, etc...
the portfolio now includes ten companies that I have confidence will make it
over the long haul. They may not make it big, but they'll undoubtedly
survive, whatever fickle politicians and the world's events throw our way. For
sure they've contributed significantly to the industry's overall rise and continued
success. We may not be as pervasive as silicon, but we're an extremely important
industry. The old adage prevails: If you can't do your design in silicon,
you have no choice but to turn to the compounds. And keep in mind these
ten companies have all been around for over twenty years now and know their
various flavors of compound semi technology. They will likely continue to evolve
as they grow, or be acquired as they shrink, but I feel confident their overall
noteworthy performance will continue to be representative of the CS industry
as a whole.
Here's how each company ranks when it comes to everyone's bottom line... long-term
gain or loss in dollar value: ...
Anadigics was the big winner as of yesterday. At a purchase price for 100 shares
of ANAD stock for $157, those 100 shares are now worth what I feel is an
impressive $1,141.00, and Anad probably did it by sticking to its original device
charter. Aixtron is in the second slot and continuing to steadily do well, probably
due to also sticking with its original charter of providing the universe with
MOCVD reactors. I purchased the AIXG stock for $368.95 and it's now worth $1,141.00.
Thanks, Aixtron and Anadigics! I'm impressed and very pleased, and you should
be too. In third place is Spire. Cost of 100 shares in '05 was $449.95 and although
it's been higher over the three years, my Spire stock is now worth $884.05.
Emcore weighs in at forth with a cost of $363.00 and that's now worth just $427.00.
Not much of a rise for Emcore, which makes me ask: What's happening at Emcore?
Change of guard worrying investors? Ramifications of splitting into two companies
confusing? Two many flavors of competing CS solar coming on the market? Telecom
apps pulling it down? Although it's changed its charter significantly over the
last three years, it's a strong company and I'm sure it will continue to provide
editorial fodder for this column space in the years ahead. AXT is in fifth place,
the original stock purchase price being $129.95, and those 100 shares are now
worth $356.00. After a masterful rebuild into mainland China, AXT's continued
success is undoubtedly due to its outstanding leadership. I truly believe that
AXT will emerge as a super winner in the longrun and besides, I always feel
more confident when the climb is gradual (which often equates to sensible).
In sixth place after three years is TriQuint. Having purchased the 100 shares
of TQNT stock at $337.00, that stock is now worth $641. In seventh place is
Cree. My CREE stock was the most costly, and was a clear stretch for my risk-adverse
pocketbook. But how can you have a portfolio without Cree. I love Cree! The
three key founders are still there, they've always been extremely supportive
of our events and helped us launch our most excellent BLUE event, and I have
so many friends among their numbers it would be absurd to not include them just
because the buy-in of 100 shares on 4/28/05 totaled (Gulp!) a whopping
$2,427.00! Note to Cree: do not disappoint me!!!) After some ups and downs over
the three years (mostly ups), that package is now up a mere $60.
Then we have three companies in the cellar as of this writing. JDS Uniphase
is down $12.28, RF Micro Devices is down $121.95 and in last place, Kopin is
down $132.95. So when you do the math, the bottom line is that, after three
years of holding tight, I've made an (unrealized) gain of $4,373.12 by originally
investing a total of $5,354.70, which was essentially my budget limit at the
time. Since over the three subsequent years "times" have been tough,
I'm often tempted to cash in, but I won't. I have confidence that sum will increase
over the next two or so years and when I'm really old and feeble, that
it'll buy something nice and comforting to remember the CS industry by. Something
in CS solar heating and solid state lighting perhaps.
Interestingly... and I doubt it has anything to do with their performance (but
hey, you never know), I've been especially close to the seven companies that
are in the highest slots, and not so close to the three that are in the minus
column. What I'm sure of when looking back over the last three years involved
with this project, is that putting together the portfolio and writing about
it over the years has been fun as well as interesting and enlightening. I looked
at this as my grand experiment in gambling, but at the heart of it was faith
they'd succeed, and hopefully thrive. I've obviously not been in this for the
monetary return, but more for the editorial fodder. I hope you've enjoyed reading
about the progress of these great companies over the years as much as I have
enjoyed following and championing them.
If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
