Numerous companies released their quarterly reports this week. Sustainable business superstars First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) both reported increased profits and beat Wall Street expectations.
First Solar’s net income for 2Q08 was $69.7 million, up from $44.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Green Mountain Coffee reported earnings of $6.3 million in the quarter ending June 28, 2008, up from $3.7 million a year ago.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) chose Itron Inc. (Nasdaq: ITRI) to supply smart meters for the utility’s 2.3 million customers over the next three years. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but SDG&E vice president of information technology J. Chris Baker said Itron’s OpenWay technology offers the flexibility needed to incorporate new ideas in the future–presumably for more sophisticated electricity efficiency and monitoring application.
Schneider Electric agreed to an all-cash purchase of Xantrex Technology (TSX: XTX) for approximately $500 million, which breaks down to CDN$15 per share–a premium of 55% over the trading price when negotiations were announced. Xantrex makes power conditioning devices necessary for connecting renewable energy systems like solar or wind power to the grid. The company recently announce a $5 million deal to supply solar power inverters to SunEdison.
Intel Capital, the investment arm of computer-chip maker Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) invested $12.5 million in Voltaix, a company that makes chemicals and gases used in semiconductor and thin-film solar manufacturing.
Capstone Turbine Corporation (Nasdaq:CPST), a company that manufactures microturbine energy systems, received an order from Israel-based solar thermal company HelioFocus. Capstone is going to modify its C65 MicroTurbine to operate on solar heated air.
This is significant in that solar thermal technology currently uses steam produced from solar-heated liquids to drive electricity-producing turbines. The modified Capstone turbine would be driven by superheated air, according to a press release.
And finally, Houston-based Hydro Green Energy signed a cooperative agreement to pursue hybrid offshore wind-hydrokinetic power projects with Wind Energy Systems Technology Group (W.E.S.T).
W.E.S.T. is building wind turbines on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and with this agreement, Hydro Green Energy will begin analyzing the ocean currents at these platforms to determine if hydrokinetic systems effectively boost the power sent to the mainland.
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