Time to Start Thinking Solar Again?

The solar sector has been beaten down quite a bit since mid-May, along with the overall market. With oil prices skyrocketing over $144/barrel, we still haven't seen buyers returning to solar plays. However, I do believe that investments in this sector will pay off in the long term.

Toyota announced Saturday that the high-end version of the Prius would start being equipped with solar panels on the car roof by early next year! This could start a trend among the auto makers.

Some solar stocks did quite well on Thursday last week. For example, Suntech Power (STP) added almost +4%; First Solar (FSLR) gained +2.34$; SunPpower (SPWR) advanced +2.39%; and JA Solar (JASO) jumped nearly +6%.

The overall market was flat and Nasdaq closed slightly lower. So, this little piece of news on Toyota Prius could provide some stimuli for the solar sector next week, although we do have to be ware of the overall market conditions.

Disclosure: none

Comments

[Ames Tiedeman:]

JASO appears to be about the best solar stock based on valuation and 2009 earnings and growth estimates. Still, I am a skeptic in general on solar. The costs seem quite high. How many people want to spend $45,000 on solar panels on their home to save $100.00 a month on their electric bill? Perhaps we need to see massive projects out in the desert with, dare I say, government subsidies?

2008 Jul 09 06:24 PM