Why Solar ETFs Are Moving Higher

The utilization of renewable power and energy sources are going to expand nationwide, especially as President Barack Obama works to boost the amount of solar power that we use in as little as three years. Both U.S and global solar stocks and ETFs stand to benefit.

China is making a play to boost the solar energy sector, and it could draw more than $10 billion in private funding, report Leonora Walet and Rujun Shen for Reuters. Expectations that there will soon be cash incentives caused solar ETFs trading to trade higher on Friday.

Although 27 states (and Washington, D.C.) have a renewable energy portfolio and mandates, the Federal government is still lacking one. The implementation of one has the potential to set the country on course with a specific goal. In addition, most proponents of renewable energy believe federal tax credits for renewable energy need to be made permanent so companies have confidence concerning returns on investment in the future, reports Brian Coppa for The Examiner.

Many companies eyeing renewable energy projects are on a rush to grab public land, straining the Bureau of Land Management. The objective is to take advantage of state mandates that require utilities to obtain more power from renewable sources, along with subsidies from the Federal government, explains Stephen Power for The Wall Street Journal. It’s a balancing act that might have Obama looking for ways to keep the clean energy transition a smooth one without trampling the legacy of conservationists.

In the meantime, India has been working overtime to become a leader in solar power generation. Will they become the first hub of renewable energy to nations such as Germany, or the United States? Under the National Solar Mission, India would generate 100,000 megawatts of solar power by 2030 and 200,000 megawatts by mid-century under the plan, according to James Kantner for The New York Times.

• Market Vectors Solar Energy (KWT): up 7.8% year-to-date

• Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (TAN): up 13.7% year-to-date

Comments

[Hazel Hende...:]

Agreed ! An even more potentially bullish development is the new global effort to fund Climate Prosperity , with a viable plan to invest $10 trillion over the next ten years to double installed renewable energy and efficiecy savings each year . This $10 trillion is less that the $14 trillion spent in the US Wall Street and other bailouts so far and is less than 10% of the $120 trillion of assets in pension funds .Climate Prosperity bonds , with laddered maturities related to the payouts from energy efficiency ( the quickest payback) to the efficiencies of scale in wind , geothermal and solar , as they are expanded , will be attractive to pension fund asset managers. During this ten-year rollout of the new low-carbon economy globally, fossil fuels will become less and less competitive ( even without accounting for their external costs and the price of carbon).
More on all this at EthicalMarkets.com click on Climate Prosperity Funds on the left of our home page.

Jun 21 10:32 AM

[Steve in Gr...:]

Long now. Short later, when the U.S. government runs out of money and the subsidies stop.

Jun 21 12:06 PM

[Windsun33:]

Recently one of the impediments to expanding solar on public lands is (perhaps not surprising) the unions, especially the IBEW. They have resorted to "greenmail" tactics to block any projects that do not force the use of union labor by filing lawsuits claiming environmental issues.

Also, much of the money in the (non)stimulous package is not going directly to real projects, but to research - which might be useful eventually, but does nothing to create jobs or alternative energy sources in the near future.

Jun 21 02:16 PM

[Alan Young:]

This article doesn't add anything new, and could have been written 6 months ago -- except the news from India, which is considering a huge solar power program. Unfortunately, there are no stocks in the Indian solar sector open to US investors.

Jun 22 02:50 PM