Solar stocks have been amongst the best investments in 2007 and are looking to continue their run in 2008.
There are now however serious questions which investors and analysts are still concerned about , mainly will government subsidies and agreed purchase prices hold. Also when will solar become cheaper or even competitive on a KWH basis with other forms of energy. The big guns at the moment are companies like SunPower, SPWR, Suntech amongst others. These companies are all over $10 billion USD in terms of their size.
This has also meant that a different type of investor has been lured into investing into these stocks. Where previously private equity and venture capital has been king, now investors with a different risk profile are entering the market for solar stocks. The reason for this is that the companies can afford to , due to the relative size and trading volume of these companies. Adding to this is the fact that these companies are making profits and have serious growth potential. The fact is that the market looks very uncertain and success will come down to factors such as whether government supported subsidies or tax breaks continue, how the rapid demand growth around the world develops, technological factors as well as how other renewable energy technology develops.
