10-01-2015, 03:25 PM
The facilities you've heard of with below predicted energy output are likely experimental technologies like concentrated solar. Photovoltaic system design and engineering is a mature field and the technology is commoditized. Professional developers (all the big players) are good at modeling energy output, the software is sophisticated, and the actual production is generally at or above expectations.
Renewables are steamrolling the market share of new generation coming online in the US; in 2014 I think it was something like 50% of new generation was from wind and solar, and the first half of 2015 is about 75%. Subsidies have been and will continue to decline or be unpredictable, but the cost of deployment has and will continue to fall rapidly as well, particularly in solar. Renewable energy is necessary in order to cut emissions, but it is increasingly the market, rather than incentives, driving expansion.
There is a list of yieldcos to choose from. NYLD (spun off from NRG) was the first back in 2013, followed by PEGI, TERP, GLBL, CAFD, and a few others I'm probably forgetting. Their share prices have tanked recently due to too much market supply from all the IPOs, the recent sector flight away from high yield that has also hit MLPs, and the market pullback generally.
I own a large position in PEGI, partly because I've owned it since 2014. The dividends are paid as return of capital. Another way to play the space is to buy the developers building and selling projects to the yieldcos, although then you get no yield.
Renewables are steamrolling the market share of new generation coming online in the US; in 2014 I think it was something like 50% of new generation was from wind and solar, and the first half of 2015 is about 75%. Subsidies have been and will continue to decline or be unpredictable, but the cost of deployment has and will continue to fall rapidly as well, particularly in solar. Renewable energy is necessary in order to cut emissions, but it is increasingly the market, rather than incentives, driving expansion.
There is a list of yieldcos to choose from. NYLD (spun off from NRG) was the first back in 2013, followed by PEGI, TERP, GLBL, CAFD, and a few others I'm probably forgetting. Their share prices have tanked recently due to too much market supply from all the IPOs, the recent sector flight away from high yield that has also hit MLPs, and the market pullback generally.
I own a large position in PEGI, partly because I've owned it since 2014. The dividends are paid as return of capital. Another way to play the space is to buy the developers building and selling projects to the yieldcos, although then you get no yield.