"Cheap Oil" has been taking a toll on the stock prices of Solar companies recently. [See next link for some examples].
Chances are however, that's just a short-term hick-up market glitch, as the "investor class" engages in a few sector-rotations, before they re-gain their long-term investment bearings.
Now is the time to invest in solar, because people are stupid
by Ben Adler, grist.org -- Jan 29 2015
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Normally, declining stock prices would reflect weak growth or a shaky outlook for an industry. But solar energy is growing by leaps and bounds. In the first three quarters of 2014, 3,966 megawatts of solar capacity were installed in the U.S., compared to 2,647 MW in the first three quarters of 2013. Solar deployment is not only expanding, but the pace at which it’s growing keeps accelerating. In 2014, according to a new report from the Solar Foundation, an independently funded think tank, the solar industry added workers almost 20 times faster than the overall U.S. economy, accounting for almost 1.3 percent of all jobs created.
So why are solar stock prices not keeping pace? Because American investors are uninformed, apparently. It turns out that the free market and its crowd-sourced opinions are not always so wise after all.
Energy industry analysts say the only good explanation for the decline in solar stocks is that oil prices are way down, from $114 per barrel of Brent crude last June to about $45 per barrel today. If oil competed with solar, that would be bad news for solar -- but it doesn’t. Solar is used to generate electricity. Oil, in contrast, is used primarily as a transportation fuel and, to a lesser degree, for home heating. Oil accounts for only 1 percent of U.S. electricity generation. Nonetheless, some investors, by conflating different elements of the energy market, make the mistaken assumption that the two power sources are going head to head.
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Hmmm, I wonder if Vanguard has an Growth Fund for "Renewables" yet?
Seven Reasons Cheap Oil Can't Stop Renewables Now
Oil is cheap. So is gas. Neither matters
by Tom Randall, bloomberg.com -- Jan 30, 2015
Oil prices have fallen by more than half since July. Just five years ago, such a plunge in fossil fuels would have put the renewable-energy industry on bankruptcy watch. Today: Meh.
Here are seven reasons why humanity’s transition to cleaner energy won’t be sidetracked by cheap oil.
1. The Sun Doesn't Compete With Oil
2. Electricity Prices Are Still Going Up
3. Solar Prices Are Still Going Down
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6. Oil Prices Won’t Stay This Low Forever
7. Global Investment in Clean Energy Keeps Flowing
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This chart shows a conservative scenario. BNEF's more optimistic scenario is 8%-10% higher. Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance
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And,
Reason Number 8) that "Cheap Oil Can't Stop Renewables"
Sun-rays are free.
And well, reliance on 'Barrels of Oil' often extracts a surcharge, that goes well beyond the 'price of petro' at the pump.