Investing in the Sun and Wind

Carl Filbrich | Apr 01, 2009

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You don’t have to look far to find what’s powering the hottest trend in angel investing. All you have to do is step outside. With help from angel investors, “green-tech” companies are finding new ways to harness the power of the sun and wind.

The race to develop alternative energy sources is driven by two powerful forces: uncertainty about the price and availability of oil and concern about climate change and greenhouse gases. In the coming years, these two forces will create enormous opportunities for companies that can provide economical alternatives to fossil fuels.

Farsighted investors are already pouring money into green-tech start ups. In 2008, Chinese companies raised a total of US$430 million in green-tech investments, a 22 percent increase over the previous year. [1] Indian companies brought in US$277 million, an increase of 20 percent. [1] But these numbers are small compared to the potential size of this dynamic new industry.

The greatest share of venture capital is flowing to developers of solar power. In the past, solar energy has been held back by the size and cost of solar panels. Now that is changing. New thin-film solar panels are lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture. They can be glued straight onto an existing roof without the expense of mounting racks. Startup companies are developing new ways to bring this technology to the market, and angel investors are providing the funds and the business savvy these companies need.

Wind power is also experiencing breathtaking growth. Global wind energy capacity grew by 28.8% in 2008. Close to a third of all new capacity was installed on the Asian continent. [2] The Chinese government has identified wind energy as one of the most promising areas of economic development. Angel investors are backing new companies working on ways to bring down the cost of manufacturing wind turbines and components. They also have their eye on small-scale wind turbines that can be used to power individual buildings or neighborhoods.

Beyond solar and wind power, angel investors are also looking at the next-generation of biofuels. They recognize that ethanol and biodiesel have some inherent limitations, but they know there are some promising news technologies on the horizon, especially fuels produced through synthetic biology.

You can keep in touch with exciting new developments like these through the Venture Hype network of angel investors. Venture Hype is a place for practical visionaries — people who have their feet on the ground and their eyes on the future.

Note:

1. Dawn Kawamoto, Green-tech venture funding jumped nearly 40 percent in 2008, CNETNews.com, January 7, 2009.

2. Global Wind Energy Council, Global Wind 2008 Report

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Filed Under: Perspectives • Research Findings

Tags: Venture Capital

* Please be civilized. Comments that include ad hominem attacks or destructive criticism will be removed.

TheCrimson

Shortage in oil nowadays is increasing and other companies which are looking for alternatives is also increasing, Sun and wind energy comes to mind though today investing is still risky because of the amount that you to offer is also very big.

vlada

According to the experts' forecasts we must expect the significant depletion of the reserves of the oil and gas in the next 50 years. It will lead to the problems in the different economic sectors. The accelerated development of the alternative energy sources is the only proper decision of this situation. The investments to the development of the alternative energy sources will become the most profitable investments in the next years.

sybil

Great! I think its really a good plan or project to pursue and invest money on it as well. Since we need now a friendly environmental technology that will replace what we have now that is so destructive on our environment.

knight

Green investments have certainly became more attractive than any sort of businesses in recent years. And this particular industry holds tremendous potential when it is expected that the green energy revolution would start soon. I had already seen the shares of the green companies multiplying and improving. And it is the ripe time for investing in this increasingly profitable sector.

Ricardo

There are more wind turbines being proposed to add to the dozens in Canada, as well. There's some resistance to the developments, but there's also the option of placing them offshore in the great lakes.

vlada

Undoubtedly the investing in the alternative energy sources is the champion on the market of investments in our days. The impressive increasing of the prices on the natural energy sources such as oil and gas, helps a lot to put such investments into the leading position on the market. But the question is how to make the right decision between the great quantity of propositions of investments?

Kejatz

How about those ideas of using lightning as an energy source? I'm sure that this has been an interesting subject in some scientific circles. I have heard that although this can be an enormous source of energy, problem about this concept is that we still don't know how exactly to harness that energy.

cirereyes

There are other energies out there that were discovered by scientists. But the major problem is that, we don’t know how to tap to them. They say lightning doesn’t strike at the same place, so how are you going to make it a source of energy?

Kejatz

I don't know what is their idea and how they plan to manage this problem, but I have heard that amount of energy that just one average storm produces can provide enough energy supply for couple of bigger towns for a whole year. Isn't that work thinking about?

Kejatz

I don't believe that governments will change their politics on energy fuels, because oil "business" is just far too useful for them. It's absurd to me that neither one country yet dove in more seriously and thoroughly to explore and plan to harness these energy sources.

cirereyes

That’s good to know, I believe the same thing is starting to happen here in our place. One company that has a plant here creates solar panels but for export only, and they are now investing a huge amount of money to make them available for local use. I hope they would be available sooner than expected, but I think it will take years before we can finally make use of them for our homes.

tongyun

I think the key will be supply and demand. For now, the alternative sources are too expensive for the average consumer to use. However, as demand increases, I'd expect prices to come down so people can start using alternative sources for energy. The challenging part is to sit back and wait for prices to come down enough to use alternative fuel sources.

cirereyes

Rightly said, but I’m certain that it would take a long time before it would be prioritized by my country’s government. The largest oil company and electric company in the country are owned by the government and I’m sure they don’t want to lose the huge profits they are earning right now.

Ubiadas

Investors know what they are investing in because the world is suffering from the green house effect and that many people are looking for ways to help preserve our planet. I for one want to have one of those solar panels which can harness the power of the sun and turned it into usable energy such as electricity.

Descorpio

Finding investment opportunities in alternative form of industries is a valid point. Because the new born industries will have a larger market potential. If you take the conventional business, the market would have been saturated for a business man. Hardly he can find the customers. When a new field is brought which is innovative, there is a lot of scope for doing a greater business. Hence in that way, there is a long way to reach the goals of using sun and wind energy.

Cogbuddy

I would say that alternative energies are the need of the hour. Recently i saw an advertisement where they small boy would say that in future he would run the business of having a cycle shop. He would justify that all the elder persons would exhaust the oil resources and one day they will start using bicycle. So there will be a great demand for the cycle shop.

This is the real situation in today's world. There is a lot of uncertainty over the availability of oil and people should come forward to use the alternative resources.

tongyun

Alternative energies may be the need of the hour, but they are so expensive here in the United States that very few people are willing to buy into it. For example, for an average size home, it would cost about $30,000 to install solar panels on the roof of a home. It would take decades before any savings would be recouped. Until things get cheaper, people will still go with oil and coal.

Sanjay Uplana

I think solar energy is a great market which can provide great chances of profit to its investors.There is always a great need of a good future vision for an appropriate profit in any investment.Solar and wind energy are definitely the future fuels,so their market provide a vast opportunity of profit to its investors in the near future.

wildie

Taking a look at the European market. You will find all these things right now. Wind power is even sponsored by some states ( like Germany and Great Britain) and solar energy is a great market too.

Some European state even give credits to their inhabitants if they put a solar power package on their houses roof. So this is really an exploring market right now.

And the biofuels will keep us away from the oil crisis, so this will rock.

tongyun

The United States is still a few years behind some of the progress that has been made in Europe. That is why, given the right start up company, it might be a good move for an angel investor to jump in and help get a company going. Many Americans are simply tired of being at the mercy of the oil producing countries but at the same time alternative fuel sources are extremely expensive. If a company can come in and provide low cost alternative fuel, that company will make a lot of money and in return, so will the angel investor.

Lorisa

It will be indeed promising future of the sun and wind energy in the world. Two key factors mentioned above: uncertainty about the price and availability of oil and concern about climate change and greenhouse gases. So that it is so smart to invest in the sun and wind energy fields. I'm just interested in the sun energy technology, and if possible I want to start up a small business. So would you please give me some detailed introduction of your investment in this area?

tongyun

Given the price of fuel that consumers had to deal with during the summer of 2008, it's a good move to start looking at sun and wind as alternative power sources. T. Boone Pickens is placing his money where his mouth is by backing a huge wind project in Texas.

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