Clean Technology & Biofuels Sector Expert Ben Kallo Interview: Grid Parity for Solar Technology in the United States Creates New Economics for Utilities
67 WALL STREET, New York - August 24, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Alternative Energy Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Grid Parity Timelines for Alternative Energy - Asia Pacific Demand for Solar Energy - Alternative Energy Generation - Solar Energy Pricing
Companies include: EnerNOC, Inc. (ENOC), Bunge Ltd. (BG), Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA) and many others.
In the following excerpt from the Alternative Energy Report, an expert analyst discusses the outlook for the sector for investors:
TWST: You've rebranded your coverage to energy technology. Into which different segments do you divide companies within energy technology, and about which segment are you most bullish at the moment, and why?
Mr. Kallo: I break the group down into three different segments, the first being renewables; the second being energy efficiency and services; and then the third advanced fuels, materials and chemicals. I'd say that I'm most bullish on renewables, in certain segments of the renewable space and then certain segments of the energy efficiency space.
TWST: You are shifting your focus to the technology aspect of the sector. What have been some of the most technological developments recently that you think could have the most impact on the sector?
Mr. Kallo: Well, I think the technology in the solar space has reached the next level of maturity in that both the costs have come down. They've continued to come down not just on the module, but on the overall system costs, so everything that the cabling and the inverters but also the financing costs. So that technology is increasingly getting closer to what we call grid parity, or producing electricity at the same level of other forms of - whether it's fossil fuels or other forms of generation.
So I think if I have to put it into the baseball terminology - that's often done - I'd say we're in the third or a fourth inning now in solar, and there's still a lot of room to grow, although we just got through two years of excruciating pain in the industry because of the overcapacity issue. A lot of that is starting to correct itself, and the benefit of all that pain is because of the cost reductions on the module side; the actual systems in the solar systems have become more competitive with other types of generation.