Use The Sun To Make Your Portfolio Glow
Sunshine…
It’s one of the building blocks of life. Without it, we wouldn’t be here. The sun gives us food, light, and warmth. These basic needs are the foundation of life on earth.
But sunshine can serve another purpose… making investors lots of money. I’ll go into more detail on that in a minute.
But first, let’s look at the energy potential of the sun…
The amount of sunlight hitting earth on any given day is astounding.
According to recent research, the sun provides more energy in one year than will ever be obtained from all of earth’s non-renewable resources. Things like oil, coal, uranium, and natural gas.
That’s right, the sun is the all time leader in energy production.
Approximately 3.8 million exajoules (EJ) of sun energy is absorbed by the earth each year. By comparison, in 2006 the entire world used 16.3 trillion kilowatt hours (KWH) of electricity.
To put that in perspective…
The earth absorbs more energy from the sun in one hour than the entire world consumes in a year.
It’s obvious, the sun has the potential to do more than just put food on our table and keep us warm. It can make a huge impact on our dependence on non-renewable resources- like coal.
The problem is we’ve been hearing about this for decades…
U.S. President Jimmy Carter was talking about the benefits of solar power over 30 years ago. Not a whole lot has happened since then. Developed nations are still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for energy.
In fact, solar power only provided 0.02% of the total world energy consumption in 2008.
So what’s the problem? There’s a lot of energy available from the sun. Why isn’t solar powering every home and business around the world?
It all comes down to cost and efficiency…
The cost per watt of solar is still high compared to fossil fuel energy. In order for a large-scale adoption of solar, it needs to be cheaper. Currently, government incentives are a large driver for solar sales.
Some European governments give large incentives for the use of solar power. In fact, Germany is responsible for nearly 50% of world solar demand.
But most countries are still dragging their feet… including the U.S.
And efficiency isn’t as good as it could be either. With current technology, a solar panel converts around 7-17% of sunlight to electrical current.
But all that’s about to change…
Breakthroughs in technology are improving the efficiency of solar modules. Some experimental cells are approaching a 40% conversion factor.
Experts in the field are expecting solar to reach “grid parity” by 2013. This is a huge milestone. Grid parity is when solar power is equal in price to fossil fuel power.
Some analysts expect solar demand to increase 25% annually from 2010 to 2013. Getting free energy from the sun is starting to look like a great alternative.
As parity grows near, top tier solar manufacturers are certain to see their stock price surge.
But don’t wait too long to jump on the solar train…
When grid parity is reached, many solar companies will have already made their huge wealth creating moves. Now is the time to take a look at the top tier solar manufacturers.
Companies like Trina Solar (TSL)…
TSL is a Chinese solar module manufacturer. The company recently blew away analyst estimates when they reported second quarter results.
And TSL recently made a strong technical move…
Notice the blue down trending resistance line. TSL made an impressive move above this important technical level last week (the green circle).
Given the strong earnings and solid technical picture, you might want to take a closer look at TSL.
The bottom line is this…
The potential for solar power is enormous. Make sure you take a close look at this industry soon.
Category: Technical Analysis
