President Barack Obama and Green Technology Investment

2. Solar Energy

Well, I don't believe that climate change is just an issue that's convenient to bring up during a campaign. I believe it's one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation.
- Barack Obama (2007)

If elected, Barack Obama will be the greenest president ever in the White House. His policies include:

1. Invest $150 billion over 10 years in clean energy.

2. Reduce carbon emissions 80 per cent by 2050.

3. Double energy research and development funding.

4. Create a Clean Technologies Venture Capital Fund, funded at $10 billion per year for five years.

5. Require that 25 per cent of electricity be from renewable sources by 2025.

Here, over several parts, is a brief guide to the investment implications for the cleantech sector.

Solar Energy

Solar is the renewable energy sector that has attracted the most stock market attention, thanks to the benefits its offers, some extremely high expansion rates and - as technology advances - the potential for this powerful growth to continue and even accelerate.

As the Solar Energy Industries Association stated in a recent report: "In 2007, the US solar energy industry saw a glimpse of a gigawatt future."

The report also noted that the US leads the world in the manufacture of both next-generation thin-film technologies and the polysilicon feedstock used in most photovoltaic applications. During 2007 photovoltaic production grew by 74 percent.

First Solar is a leader in the manufacture of thin-film solar cells, and has become one of the key solar energy stocks, with its share price appreciating more than five times during 2007.

MEMC Electronic Materials is a leader in the production of wafers for both the semiconductor and the solar industries, with manufacturing facilities in the US, Italy and Asia.

SunPower is a leading US producer of a range of products, from residential solar panels to large-scale solar power systems.

Applied Materials, a prominent provider of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, is moving strongly into the business of supplying solar manufacturers.

American investors have also shown great interest in many of the Chinese solar companies, some of which are listed on US exchanges. Leading Chinese solar stocks include JA Solar Holdings, LDK Solar, Solarfun Power Holdings, Suntech Power Holdings, Trina Solar and Yingli Green Energy Holding.

June 18th, 2008