But that is just talking about U.S. solar demand. Other countries figure prominently in the global solar energy demand equation.
“Over the past six months, China and Japan both have seen a consistent increase in end-demand. Policy rate in Japan is favorable to solar project developments. In the first half of 2013, the country reported 3.4GW of new installations. Citi estimates that end-demand would rise to 7GW in Japan, and 10GW in China by the end of 2014. Global end demand is expected to grow 20% from 35GW at the end of 2013 to 42GW by the end of next year,” according to ValueWalk.
China is the elephant in the solar room much the way it is with commodities like copper, nickel and related fare. The country’s willingness to prop up its ailing solar firms cannot be ignored as a catalyst for solar ETFs. China is, after all, almost 37% of TAN’s weight and that does not include the 12.3% weight to Hong Kong.
As for whether TAN and KWT can make it on to the 2014 top-10 list, only ETFs from 2012 made it again this year: The Market Vectors Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: BBH) and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGS: IBB).
