This is our second part of the family office series. We’re breaking down five solar stocks and eight mutual funds for investors with less domain expertise, but savvy when it comes to asset allocation.
US Traded Solar Stocks
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)
First Solar is an all-encompassing solar company that develops, finances, engineers, constructs, and operates many large PV power plants. They are also heavily involved in developing the technology of the solar industry to continue the progress with a proprietary advanced thin-film semiconductor module. While covering all of these areas, First Solar still makes it their priority to keep company pricing competitive to those of fossil fuel to encourage others to make the switch to renewable energy.
HQ Location: Tempe, Arizona
Market Performance (1 yr, 3 yr, 5 yr): -7.61%, 12.40%, 6.51%
Current Price: $57.49
CEO: Mark Widmar
Recent News:
-Signed a 15-year PPA to supply renewable energy to Dow’s Gulf Coast operations
-415MW Series 6 Framework Supply Agreement with Geronimo Energy
-Storage agreement PPAs with California’ Monterey Bay Community Power & Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH)
Enphase Energy is a leading supplier of solar micro inverters. They also design solutions to manage solar generation, storage, and management through their semiconductor-based microinverter system. Managing the energy under this one system boosts efficiency for the solar projects.
HQ Location: Fremont, California
Market Performance (1 yr, 3 yr, 5 yr): 194.76%, 312.62%, 55.86%
Current Price: $55.43
CEO: Badrinarayanan Kothandaraman
Recent News:
–Shareholder lawsuit filed against Enphase for inflated revenue and profits, and improper accounting practices
-Partnered with Excel Power to build solar projects in Australia
-Expands to Poland with SmartX collaboration
Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ)
Canadian Solar is a multi-national solar cell manufacturer and project developer. The MSS segment develops various ingots, wafers, cells, and modules, choosing to focus on design. The Energy segment is in charge of the sale of these products and project development. The MSS segment accounts for roughly 90% of revenue, but the energy segment is actively growing.
HQ Location: Ontario, Canada
Market Performance (1yr, 3yr, 5yr): 15.06%, 12.13%, -1.99%
Current Price: $24.28
CEO: Shawn Qu
Recent News:
–Signed two PPAs for 274 MW Brazillian solar projects
-Launched next-generation solar modules
-Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund to Be a Major Component in the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s New Infrastructure Funds Index
SolarEdge Tech (NASDAQ: SEDG)
SolarEdge is focused on the progress of the solar industry through technology and innovation. They developed the DC optimized inverter solution which helped lower costs of solar projects while improving power generation. Since they have been IPO, there has been impressive growth in revenue and gross margins. They have also diversified their product line by now offering residential, commercial, and large scale solar with energy storage, backup solutions, home management, EV charging, grid services, and virtual power plants.
HQ Location: Fremont, California
Market Performance (1 yr, 3 yr, 5 yr): 182.79%, 100.02%, 40.37%
Current Price: $164.91
CEO: Zivi Lando
Recent News:
–Lior Handelsman, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy and Co-Founder to step-down
-Launched Energy Hub Inverter to enhance solar + storage experiences
-Supplies Enfindus with inverters for 1GW for European solar projects
SolarWindow Tech (OTC: WNDW)
Background: SolarWindow Technologies has developed the first see-through window with the ability to generate electricity. Their windows are the ideal fit for homes and commercial buildings to use clean energy and reward consumers with lower-cost electricity. It is estimated that customers will see the return in under one year, where normal solar panels can take several years for payback.
HQ Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Market Performance (1 yr, 3 yr, 5 yr): -14.74%, 2.24%, 7.87%
Current Price: $2.93
CEO: Jatinder “Jay†Bhogal
Recent News:
-Soon to release its largest-ever array of transparent electricity-generating window glass panes
-Appoints John Rhee from Softbank to the Board of Directors
-November 1, 2019, the company hired Mr. James B. Whitaker, PhD, as our Principal Research & Development Scientist
Mutual Funds with Sustainability Mandate
We cover funds with sustainability mandate in addition to alternative energy funds because of the better performance opportunities for investors as well as the potential for higher sustainability scores. For five alt energy funds see:
