The progress with solar technology has been impressive and is well summarized in the following chart which shows the dramatic decline in the price per watt
Whenever someone shows a chart like this there will quickly be people who decry subsidies for solar. The answer of course is that at this point instead of subsidizing solar we should be taxing carbon, which would make solar instantly the preferred technology for homes everywhere.
In my personal portfolio (outside of USV) I am very long solar including holding in Solar City and First Solar as well as a private investment in M-Kopa an offgrid solar provider in Kenya. I was happy to see Hillary Clinton make a strong push for solar as part of her presidential campaign even though this still falls short of a comprehensive climate policy (which would have to include a carbon tax – but might not make someone electable).
In the meantime there is also interesting financing innovation happening in Solar. For instance, Wundercapital lets you back solar projects directly in a P2P financing model that returns 6% (while this is less than what you could earn on say Lending Club you are also doing something good for the environment). Another really interesting twist is Yeloha. Instead of a straight up financing play they connect people who have roof space available with those who have the money to pay for solar but are constrained by where they live. Yeloha connects the two through a clever hack that deducts the savings right off your electricity bill. So if you care about the climate and can’t have solar directly at your building both of these are great ways to support the transition.
I am very bullish on the potential for solar. Let’s just hope this isn’t a case of too little too late.
