Chris Dahl, Perk, Henry Fong and Leon Chiu
The below article was written by Richard W. Perkins President and CEO of Perkins Capital Management for the company’s quarterly newsletter. In the article Mr. Perkins explains in easy to understand language the new non-silicone solar panel technology.
PCM Clients 3 October 25, 2007
MESSAGE FROM PERK
In mid- September I traveled with my old friend, Chris Dahl, to Chengdu, China, via Hong Kong, where we met Henry Fong, a Floridian with whom some investors and I have started a solar energy company called China Nuvo Solar Energy. We purchased the rights to a new solar technology invented by Lawrence Curtin, which uses ceramic tubes as concentrators to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce costs. Anyway, the purpose of the trip was to meet Leon Chiu, president of Pioneer Materials Company in Chengdu, who will build our first prototype to validate the concept of the invention, to determine the wattage which can be achieved and also to reduce the cost of the solar cell. Leon Chiu is an American citizen who studied at MIT and who has become involved with the Chengdu company as its president because he sees the potential of the burgeoning Chinese economy. We also met the principals of Sichuan Xinju Mineral Resources Development Company, Inc. consisting of Chairman Hou and his immediate staff. This company owns a large telluride/bismuth mine, one of the few in the world from which the company produces the highest purity tellurium at 99.9999% pure. Tellurium combined with cadmium is used to create a substrate in solar cells which is a substitute for silicon and, while highly effective, is toxic. Sichuan Xinju produces other high quality minerals such as indium, selenium, bismuth, cadmium, and antimony and combinations of these such as cadmium-tellurium (CeTe). Sichuan Xinju is embarking on a very ambitious program to expand its mining production, and its purification manufacturing as well as integrating vertically to manufacture solar cells. It is possible that at some point this company might want to manufacture the China Nuvo solar cell, but that is far in the future, if at all. This ambitious expansion program for this company is an interesting topic as they are well along in the construction of a new 1.2 million square foot manufacturing campus. The Chinese government literally gives away the land for industrial sites to companies who will build, but who must have a bona fide construction plan and production plan approved by the government. This visit to China was an eye opener for me. Chengdu, a city I had never heard of just a few months ago, has in excess of 10 million people. Everyone knows about Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. But Chengdu? The map on the next page shows the location of the 15 major Chinese cities with populations in excess of 5 million. But the GDP levels per capita are worth noting—room for plenty of growth. Like most Asian cities, Chengdu is a study of contrasts. Our hotel, the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, was a modern structure with many amenities similar to big city hotels in the United States. Just out the door were elegant Prada and Louis Vuitton shops, and others, such as Chanel, Prada and Gucci were nearby, while just a few miles away there was what seemed to me to be poverty or close to it. The avenues in the city were 4-lanes in each direction plus another lane separated by a curb for bicycles and scooters. The lanes were separated by a larger beautiful boulevard. Cars, taxis and other sundry vehicles did not stay in their lanes very long, making for nervous American passengers, but the Chinese with us paid scant attention to the constant game of chicken which gave us near heart attacks. Intersections were worse—a combination of chicken and dodg‘em. And it is pedestrian beware, for as our host pointed out, vehicles come ahead of the poor pedestrian. Once out of the city, however, there are toll roads which are sparsely traveled now but presumably will be traveled more as time passes. Clean and well maintained, but quite empty. Our host driver used them to transport us quickly to allow more time for the business at hand. I saw in person what we read about at home—the tremendous growth of China. At the Sichuan Xinju construction site, mentioned earlier, there were countless factories under construction and other buildings rising in this industrial park. Access roads were being built in all directions. In addition to the demand for steel, there obviously is a demand for cement. I don’t know the number of acres in this industrial park, but it is very large for it went beyond what we could see. We were told that this is the third industrial park being advanced in Chengdu, and doubtless this scene is being duplicated many times throughout China. Frankly, I was amazed at the growth in Hong Kong since I was last there. Over the years while heading international for Piper Jaffray, I went to Hong Kong at least once a year to see the Hong Kong affiliates of their British counterparts. In 1997, when China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong ending 150 years of British colonial rule, there were many naysayers who felt that China would violate the agreement made in 1984 by which Hong Kong was to retain its political economic and judicial system for fifty years after reversion. However, these dire predictions have not come to pass. In fact, China has had the good sense to let Hong Kong continue in its unique way of life under the name Hong Kong, China. As a result, Hong Kong’s population has increased steadily over the past decade and is now at about 7 million people. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, which is easily seen by the huge number of high-rise apartment buildings all over the island. In fact, this is what amazed me so much—the huge amount of construction which has transpired since my last visit. It is also worth noting that Hong Kong has the
world’s largest airport and certainly one of the most efficient and attractive and well located (a half-hour’s drive from City Center). As the roads on Lantau Island were built, the material was reclaimed and put into the sea to form the area which encompasses Hong Kong International Airport. This is an amazing airport and indeed an amazing trip from the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, however, one of the things I noticed was something I had not seen before on any of my Hong Kong trips, and that was smog. It was hard for me to fathom that it existed there, but indeed it does, and on the very day of our return there was an article in USA Today which discussed the fact that Americans and other Westerners have been leaving Hong Kong because of its air pollution. I had expected to encounter air pollution in Chengdu, but not in Hong Kong. The bottom line here, and the reason for this lengthy report on this trip to China, is to verify for you, our clients and readers, that what is going on in that part of the world is real. It is one thing to read about it, but an entirely different thing to see it in person.
To view the source article click link- http://tinyurl.com/35mx9k
To hear an audio interview with the Company CEO H. Fong click this link- http://tinyurl.com/38gwk4
PCM Clients 3 October 25, 2007
MESSAGE FROM PERK
In mid- September I traveled with my old friend, Chris Dahl, to Chengdu, China, via Hong Kong, where we met Henry Fong, a Floridian with whom some investors and I have started a solar energy company called China Nuvo Solar Energy. We purchased the rights to a new solar technology invented by Lawrence Curtin, which uses ceramic tubes as concentrators to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce costs. Anyway, the purpose of the trip was to meet Leon Chiu, president of Pioneer Materials Company in Chengdu, who will build our first prototype to validate the concept of the invention, to determine the wattage which can be achieved and also to reduce the cost of the solar cell. Leon Chiu is an American citizen who studied at MIT and who has become involved with the Chengdu company as its president because he sees the potential of the burgeoning Chinese economy. We also met the principals of Sichuan Xinju Mineral Resources Development Company, Inc. consisting of Chairman Hou and his immediate staff. This company owns a large telluride/bismuth mine, one of the few in the world from which the company produces the highest purity tellurium at 99.9999% pure. Tellurium combined with cadmium is used to create a substrate in solar cells which is a substitute for silicon and, while highly effective, is toxic. Sichuan Xinju produces other high quality minerals such as indium, selenium, bismuth, cadmium, and antimony and combinations of these such as cadmium-tellurium (CeTe). Sichuan Xinju is embarking on a very ambitious program to expand its mining production, and its purification manufacturing as well as integrating vertically to manufacture solar cells. It is possible that at some point this company might want to manufacture the China Nuvo solar cell, but that is far in the future, if at all. This ambitious expansion program for this company is an interesting topic as they are well along in the construction of a new 1.2 million square foot manufacturing campus. The Chinese government literally gives away the land for industrial sites to companies who will build, but who must have a bona fide construction plan and production plan approved by the government. This visit to China was an eye opener for me. Chengdu, a city I had never heard of just a few months ago, has in excess of 10 million people. Everyone knows about Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. But Chengdu? The map on the next page shows the location of the 15 major Chinese cities with populations in excess of 5 million. But the GDP levels per capita are worth noting—room for plenty of growth. Like most Asian cities, Chengdu is a study of contrasts. Our hotel, the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, was a modern structure with many amenities similar to big city hotels in the United States. Just out the door were elegant Prada and Louis Vuitton shops, and others, such as Chanel, Prada and Gucci were nearby, while just a few miles away there was what seemed to me to be poverty or close to it. The avenues in the city were 4-lanes in each direction plus another lane separated by a curb for bicycles and scooters. The lanes were separated by a larger beautiful boulevard. Cars, taxis and other sundry vehicles did not stay in their lanes very long, making for nervous American passengers, but the Chinese with us paid scant attention to the constant game of chicken which gave us near heart attacks. Intersections were worse—a combination of chicken and dodg‘em. And it is pedestrian beware, for as our host pointed out, vehicles come ahead of the poor pedestrian. Once out of the city, however, there are toll roads which are sparsely traveled now but presumably will be traveled more as time passes. Clean and well maintained, but quite empty. Our host driver used them to transport us quickly to allow more time for the business at hand. I saw in person what we read about at home—the tremendous growth of China. At the Sichuan Xinju construction site, mentioned earlier, there were countless factories under construction and other buildings rising in this industrial park. Access roads were being built in all directions. In addition to the demand for steel, there obviously is a demand for cement. I don’t know the number of acres in this industrial park, but it is very large for it went beyond what we could see. We were told that this is the third industrial park being advanced in Chengdu, and doubtless this scene is being duplicated many times throughout China. Frankly, I was amazed at the growth in Hong Kong since I was last there. Over the years while heading international for Piper Jaffray, I went to Hong Kong at least once a year to see the Hong Kong affiliates of their British counterparts. In 1997, when China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong ending 150 years of British colonial rule, there were many naysayers who felt that China would violate the agreement made in 1984 by which Hong Kong was to retain its political economic and judicial system for fifty years after reversion. However, these dire predictions have not come to pass. In fact, China has had the good sense to let Hong Kong continue in its unique way of life under the name Hong Kong, China. As a result, Hong Kong’s population has increased steadily over the past decade and is now at about 7 million people. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, which is easily seen by the huge number of high-rise apartment buildings all over the island. In fact, this is what amazed me so much—the huge amount of construction which has transpired since my last visit. It is also worth noting that Hong Kong has the
world’s largest airport and certainly one of the most efficient and attractive and well located (a half-hour’s drive from City Center). As the roads on Lantau Island were built, the material was reclaimed and put into the sea to form the area which encompasses Hong Kong International Airport. This is an amazing airport and indeed an amazing trip from the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, however, one of the things I noticed was something I had not seen before on any of my Hong Kong trips, and that was smog. It was hard for me to fathom that it existed there, but indeed it does, and on the very day of our return there was an article in USA Today which discussed the fact that Americans and other Westerners have been leaving Hong Kong because of its air pollution. I had expected to encounter air pollution in Chengdu, but not in Hong Kong. The bottom line here, and the reason for this lengthy report on this trip to China, is to verify for you, our clients and readers, that what is going on in that part of the world is real. It is one thing to read about it, but an entirely different thing to see it in person.
To view the source article click link- http://tinyurl.com/35mx9k
To hear an audio interview with the Company CEO H. Fong click this link- http://tinyurl.com/38gwk4
