Solar sector stocks and related exchange traded funds have a lot of room to expand as the nascent industry’s competitive costs help cut out a greater share of the electric grid.
The residential solar market is experiencing a quick build up as homeowners increase photovoltaic system installation in an attempt to help the environment or simply cut down on their energy bill, reports Jackie DeAngelis for CNBC.
Currently, U.S. home solar energy only accounts for less than 1%, but market estimates indicate that the industry could grow to as much as 20% to 30% by 2020.
As more people transition to solar energy, solar sector ETFs, like the Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEArca: TAN) and Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (NYSEArca: KWT), stand to benefit. Year-to-date, TAN has increased 2.7% and KWT has dipped 3.9%. [Solar ETFs: Demand Outpacing Supply for First Time Since 2006]
“The market has a ton of potential. It’s already sizable. We have three players valued at over a billion dollars, yet we’re only in less than 1 percent of U.S. households,” Lynn Jurich, CEO of privately held Sunrun, said in the article “So if you look at the 140,000 homes that received solar last year, we can be competitive with local utility power in about 20 million homes.”