Hi Robin,
An alternative to your #2 below is a leveraged buyout of some kind but not
involving a traded company or a sheik, etc. Mills probably wants to stay in
charge and see this out, win or loose.Who can see him giving up an inch of
control unless the Sun Cell is a total failure. It may be a failure but there
may be something else which is seen as a successor.
Anyway, there is little doubt that Mills has old investors who put up millions
in several successive rounds of private investment back in the previous century
(this can include the heirs of same) who want to get some value now. They
expected to see a huge return long ago, based upon Mills hype, and have been
disappointed over and over again.
These investors will sell back early round stock at a discount = or else sue -
in order to get some value out of it, sooner rather than later, allowing Mills
to do a leveraged buyout of a sort, and go completely private and silent. The
silence is to avoid legal repercussions and to avoid hurting his chances to
obtain the backing of probably one investor. Heck maybe Elon is behind him now
<g> or else Larry Page who needs more power for his soon to be released VTOL
A good guess is that Mills is walking a tightrope in legal terms, having made
claims which did not materialize and he could lose everything if he does not
first satisfy the early investors and keep everything out of court.
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
>Back in 1975 and continuing on for another generation, engineers in the energy
>sector almost never gave solar a second thought as being a major contributor
>in the big picture. Too expensive and large fortunes were lost by early
>pioneers.
>
>In fact solar panels cost $100 per watt then, and although it was recognized
>that the price would drop fast with increasing demand, there were few who
>expected the price to drop so dramatically to below $1 per watt today (without
>subsidy). That's what the graph on this page demonstrates - a 100-to-one drop
>(or more). This massive reduction in installed price still has not sunk into
>the minds of all decision makers - some of whom still embrace coal.
>
>https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/11/20/18104206/solar-panels-cost-cheap-mit-clean-energy-policy?utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review
>The drop in cost has been ... well, ludicrous, to paraphrase Elon.
>
>Of course comparison to other energy technologies has to include the lower
>availability of solar over the full day, but nevertheless, when everything is
>considered, solar is probably the best value option for the USA in 2019 - at
>least until (let's hope) something like LENR comes along.
[snip]
Mills rolled up the email group. That may indicate several things:-
1) They have finally made a serious breakthrough that means they can go into
production. or..
2) They are planning on going public sometime soon, or both? or..
3) The board told him to back off on the public comments, which could damage
their IP. or ..
4) They have discovered a major flaw that implies that it will never work.
I think there is too much evidence already for 4 to be a serious contender.
Regards,
Robin van Spaandonk
local asymmetry = temporary success
