Harnessing the Power of Sun Stocks

By Kevin Grewal, editorial director at SmartStops.net

As global warming advocates continue to make their mark on the energy sector and energy firms refine and develop more efficient methods of producing clean energy, will solar power be the light at the end of the tunnel?

As long as crude oil prices remain relatively high and the government pushes for cleaner energy alternatives, forms of renewable energy will continue to remain attractive. What makes solar energy so attractive is the massive push in investment in utility-scale solar projects, the amount of aid President Obama has allocated to solar energy and its use around the globe.

Investments in utility-scale solar projects are expected to help catapult the industry forward over the next three years. In fact, analysts are anticipating a twelvefold increase in the amount of solar energy in the U.S. In addition, President Obama's stimulus package, which includes renewable energy loan guarantees of nearly $18.6 billion, is expected to be delivered in July of 2009.

From a global perspective, it appears that the trend has already emerged. The use of solar power has been fairly widespread in China as villagers have depended on a rudimentary system of leaving buckets of water on roofs to tap solar energy to heat the water. The method is cheap, clean and effective; however, it doesn't enable the water to remain hot for long. In addition, China is expected to raise billions in private funding to develop more efficient methods of utilizing solar energy.