I live in a very hot country. The panels are very expensive but after that they pay for themselves with your heating bills slashed in half . More than half.
I can't remember where, but there was a website where you could calculate the time it takes for solar panels to pay themselves back. It worked only for the USA but allowed you to input prices of both panels (different sizes of course) and electricity and then click your location from a map, so it would actually calculate how much sun you are expected to get etc. Very nice little tool for those who live in the USA, shame I can't find it now.
Besides the US, there are other countries in the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Brasil, etc), plus Europe, and other Asian countries like Japan. Africa a little here and there as well. Just not too many eggs in any one basket (or company or region outside of the US). Bigger US companies tend to have lots of foreign exposure in and of themselves - they usually sell and often manufacture their products overseas.
New poster here, but long been an observer and researcher in the energy space. I remain cautious on buying into the idea of solar energy as an investment target at the moment. While it is true that Europe and the US have been aggressive of late in pushing for solar energy (and really, renewable energy as a whole), those sources have yet to prove their ability to provide power consistently and reliably as base load and intermediate energy sources have (i.e. coal, natural gas). For example, look at California. For years, the state has encourage the installation of solar capacity but it remains reliant on natural gas for the bulk of its net generation needs (I've crunched the numbers before from the Energy Information Administration Forms 860 and 923, if I'm not mistaken). Even if you count the purchases made through CAISO, renewable generation pales in comparison from the alternatives. Even if you look across the Atlantic, the story remains the same. Europe has long pushed for a more size-able output from renewable sources and yet it remains dependent on fossil fuels. There was an article in Power Magazine (powermag.com) that looked into the generating capacity vs. net generation of European renewable energy and same story. On the bright side, China continues to produce tons of solar panels (if I'm not mistaken solar power producers in the US are raising their concerns against Chinese manufacturers dumping practices for their panels). The US continues to tout its Renewable Portfolio Standards, so I doubt solar energy will go any time soon (despite questions on its efficiency).
Nice post kitsiks. The demand is there though: USA, Europe, China, Japan and India are all looking to increase their usage of solar energy, this is both through solar powerplants as well as offering incentives for individuals to install solar panels on their roofs etc. Trina Solar just released their earnings about a week ago, they are the biggest manufacturer and are running at 100% capacity which the CEO described as being "not enough" right now, hence they are building more production capacity as we speak. While it will not replace nuclear/natural gas/coal as the main power source for quite some time, I do see solar energy taking a larger share of the energy production in the coming years. Both the panels themselves and storage units are getting more efficient each year. USA is going to start adding some tax BS to panels manufactured in China, interesting to see how that will affect what's going on.
I've seen multiple sources stating that in many parts of the country, solar is cheaper than grid. Solar farms powering cities doesn't look like the way it's going, its individual panels on each residence, business. ahh, here's a source: http://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...ily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily
I completely agree - it's always been a great concept but actually seeing it monetize is the big issue. The fact that China is able to make and knock out plenty of these solar panels is a good sign of adoption but not necessarily as an investment. Or rather, some investors will have to reset their expectations as margins get thinner as the industry continues to commoditize.