Sources Energy

Sony Corp. (SNE) has agreed to include the Google (GOOG) Chrome browsers on its PCs, Reuters reports. A spokesman for Google said the deal went into effect this summer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Google spokesman noted that the company is looking to strike similar deals with other PC vendors.

Investor Carl Icahn disclosed in an SEC filing that investment funds he controls sold 12.7 million shares of Yahoo (YHOO) between August 27 and August 31, cutting his stake to 62.9 million shares. The sales drop his stake to 4.48%, below the 5% 13-D reporting threshold.

Icahn said in the filing that he sold the shares “to provide a more desired balance” in his portfolios, especially given that the “window” for sales by officer and directors would close after August 31. The filing said the sales “in no way” were intended as a reflection of Icahn’s long-term view of Yahoo, noting that he is “optimistic” about the company’s long-term prospects.

Icahn the filing said, continues to believe in “the wisdom” of the company’s transaction with Microsoft (MSFT), and continues to “fully support the performance” of CEO Carol Bartz.

YHOO, which slipped 24 cents, or 1.6%, to $14.61 in Monday’s regular session, fell another 7 cell in late trading.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A massive wildfire roaring through mountains north of Los Angeles forced some firefighters to retreat on Monday as the toll of engulfed homes rose sharply and flames menaced Mount Wilson, a broadcasting hub and site of a historic observatory.

Until recently, the electronics used in PV systems – inverters and Balance of System (BoS) have been an overlooked and underinvested part of the solar ecosystem, despite being a $2.2 billion+ market.

But in the last two years, there has been a surge in investment and entrepreneurial activity in solar BoS.  We have listed all of the companies in this sub-sector here.

eIQ Energy, a start-up in this market, founded in 2007 with a staff of 25 located in San Jose, CA just emerged from stealth today.  The firm falls into the distributed maximum power point tracking camp (as opposed to the microinverter camp) and has a new slant on the distributed electronics angle.
 
I spoke with CEO Oliver Janssen, CTO Gene Krzywinski, and VP of Business Development Michael Lamb.  Janssen stated, “It’s important to differentiate our solution.  Like the microinverters and distributed MPPT firms - we have distributed MPPT and performance monitoring.”  But the CEO claims that their difference is that they “enable a truly parallel architecture - the panels do not have to be connected in series and you no longer have to design a string.” 

Greentech Media has covered the advantages of distributed MPPT before - amongst the many benefits are reduced loss due to shadowing, soiling, or panel mismatch.  It enables differing roof pitches, incremental additions to the system, and provides design and safety advantages.

CTO Krzywinski added, “We are making each panel do a DC boost onto a bus.”  The eIQ system uses a distributed “vBoost” module - a small DC-to-DC converter that attaches to one or more panels in an array and provides maximum power point tracking while also stepping up panel output voltage to a constant level and creating a bus architecture. The company claims that their architecture enables the connection of unprecedented numbers of panels on a single cable run - up to more than 100 thin-film panels. 

According to the company - balance of system components (cabling, combiner boxes, racks, and design and installation fees) account for 25 to 40 percent of an array’s per-watt cost - and represent a substantial opportunity for reduction in up-front expenditures.

VP Mike Lamb adds, “There is substantial cost savings in optimizing the power capacity of the copper plant,  you could connect one hundred or more panels per cable run with a significant savings in the BoS - wiring, combiner boxes, and labor.”   To make installation faster and potentially less expensive, vBoost modules include an integrated wiring harness with snap-together connectors, eliminating the need for extensive on-site wiring.

“Those savings will more than offset the cost of our system,” said Lamb and added, “Though incremental power boost is one of the benefits of our solution - we are not relying on incremental energy harvest to offset the cost of our system.” 

eIQ’s main customer interactions are with installers and PPA providers (as opposed to module manufacturers).  Janssen noted, “We are installing small commercial beta installations” and “We believe we have a compelling value proposition for commercial applications.”
 
eIQ’s modules work with industry-standard central inverters to which the eIQ system provides consistent and steady voltages, allowing the inverter to operate in its most efficient range with maximum reliability.

The investment climate is changing – the once stagnant inverter and balance of plant market is being shaken up by VC investment and entrepreneurial innovation. In addition to being a sector with room for technical innovation and performance enhancement, the inverter market is also more capital efficient than the solar panel manufacturing sector.  And capital efficiency is this year’s VC mantra.

eIQ could be one of those capital efficient game-changers.  eIQ joins SolarEdge, Tigo Energy, and National Senmiconductor as one of the competitors in the distributed MPPT sector and S.E.T. in the parallel architecture field.  EnPhase’s microinverters remain the dominant player so far in the distributed electronics field with more than 50,000 units shipped since last August.

More details in the GTI Report: The Coming Disruption in the PV Inverter Market

Until recently, the electronics used in PV systems – inverters and Balance of System (BoS) have been an overlooked and underinvested part of the solar ecosystem, despite being a $2.2 billion+ market.

But in the last two years, there has been a surge in investment and entrepreneurial activity in solar BoS.  We have listed all of the companies in this sub-sector here.

eIQ Energy, a start-up in this market, founded in 2007 with a staff of 25 located in San Jose, CA just emerged from stealth today.  The firm falls into the distributed maximum power point tracking camp (as opposed to the microinverter camp) and has a new slant on the distributed electronics angle.
 
I spoke with CEO Oliver Janssen, CTO Gene Krzywinski, and VP of Business Development Michael Lamb.  Janssen stated, “It’s important to differentiate our solution.  Like the microinverters and distributed MPPT firms - we have distributed MPPT and performance monitoring.”  But the CEO claims that their difference is that they “enable a truly parallel architecture - the panels do not have to be connected in series and you no longer have to design a string.” 

Greentech Media has covered the advantages of distributed MPPT before - amongst the many benefits are reduced loss due to shadowing, soiling, or panel mismatch.  It enables differing roof pitches, incremental additions to the system, and provides design and safety advantages.

CTO Krzywinski added, “We are making each panel do a DC boost onto a bus.”  The eIQ system uses a distributed “vBoost” module - a small DC-to-DC converter that attaches to one or more panels in an array and provides maximum power point tracking while also stepping up panel output voltage to a constant level and creating a bus architecture. The company claims that their architecture enables the connection of unprecedented numbers of panels on a single cable run - up to more than 100 thin-film panels. 

According to the company - balance of system components (cabling, combiner boxes, racks, and design and installation fees) account for 25 to 40 percent of an array’s per-watt cost - and represent a substantial opportunity for reduction in up-front expenditures.

VP Mike Lamb adds, “There is substantial cost savings in optimizing the power capacity of the copper plant,  you could connect one hundred or more panels per cable run with a significant savings in the BoS - wiring, combiner boxes, and labor.”   To make installation faster and potentially less expensive, vBoost modules include an integrated wiring harness with snap-together connectors, eliminating the need for extensive on-site wiring.

“Those savings will more than offset the cost of our system,” said Lamb and added, “Though incremental power boost is one of the benefits of our solution - we are not relying on incremental energy harvest to offset the cost of our system.” 

eIQ’s main customer interactions are with installers and PPA providers (as opposed to module manufacturers).  Janssen noted, “We are installing small commercial beta installations” and “We believe we have a compelling value proposition for commercial applications.”
 
eIQ’s modules work with industry-standard central inverters to which the eIQ system provides consistent and steady voltages, allowing the inverter to operate in its most efficient range with maximum reliability.

The investment climate is changing – the once stagnant inverter and balance of plant market is being shaken up by VC investment and entrepreneurial innovation. In addition to being a sector with room for technical innovation and performance enhancement, the inverter market is also more capital efficient than the solar panel manufacturing sector.  And capital efficiency is this year’s VC mantra.

eIQ could be one of those capital efficient game-changers.  eIQ joins SolarEdge, Tigo Energy, and National Senmiconductor as one of the competitors in the distributed MPPT sector and S.E.T. in the parallel architecture field.  EnPhase’s microinverters remain the dominant player so far in the distributed electronics field with more than 50,000 units shipped since last August.

More details in the GTI Report: The Coming Disruption in the PV Inverter Market

AP - An Army chemical weapons disposal plant that handled nerve gas and other deadly agents has been properly cleaned and closed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats announced on Monday a new delay on climate change legislation, which could make it more difficult for President Barack Obama to win progress on that front before a global environmental summit in December.

Well, so much for the Disney (DIS) buys Electronic Arts (ERTS) theory.

Earlier this month, Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible picked up coverage of Disney, in part based on the theory that the company might Electronic Arts, to combine the EA Sports franchise with ESPN to create an all-media sports giant. Wible wasn’t the first person to come up with the concept; the Wall Street Journal floated the idea last November.

But with today’s news that Disney is spending $4 billion to Marvel (MVL) - Goofy, meet the Hulk. Hulk, this is Goofy - the prospects for a near-term deal to buy ERTS seems a lot less likely. How many multi-billion dollar acquisitions can Disney take on at once?

While the Marvel acquisition doesn’t flat-out preclude Disney buying ERTS, it certainly suggests a deal is unlikely in the short run.

Ergo, ERTS today fell 54 cents, or 2.9%, to $18.22.

Sina (SINA) shares are trading lower after hours on investor disappointment with the China-based media company’s Q3 outlook.

For Q2, the company posted revenue of $90.3 million and non-GAAP EPS of 29 cents a share; the Street had expected $88.1 million and 29 cents. Revenue was down 1% from a year ago. Gross margin was 56%, down from 62% a year ago, but up from 52% in Q1.

For Q3, Sina expects revenue of $91 million to $94 million, below the Street consensus at $96.1 million. The company expects ad revenue for the quarter of $60 million to $62 million, with non-ad revenue of $31 million to $32 million. In Q2, the company posted $57.8 million in ad revenue, and $32.5 million in other revenue.

In late trading, SINA is down 75 cents, or 2.5%, to $29.25.

AP - Gray wolf hunting was set to begin in the Northern Rockies, even as a federal judge eyed a request to stop the killing of the predators just four months after they were removed from the endangered species list.