Photo: Manny Becerra via Unsplash.

Solar’s popularity seems to only be growing, as the first quarter saw the largest quantity of solar installation on record by gigawatt and a 46% increase over the previous year, according to a Solar Energy Industries Association report.

What Happened: Solar accounted for the most popular form of new electricity-generating power sources.

Compared with residential and commercial solar, utility-scale solar made up the bulk of solar installations, with most of that occurring in Texas. 

But these numbers only include the immediacy of the moment. In the long run the solar industry will “continue to break annual installation records every year for the next three years,” according to predictions from Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy and research group.

Why It Matters: The consequences of anthropogenic climate change continue to devastate the United States. In the last week, California’s forests have been set ablaze by wildfires, causing evacuations and incredibly poor air quality; 20 people died in Tennessee due to flooding, and more than 1 million people are without power in Louisiana and Mississippi due to Hurricane Ida.  

Many have made moral arguments compelling people to combat climate change with clean energy initiatives. For those investing, that also leaves opportunity for clean energy industries, including electric vehicles, wind and, as is discussed here, solar. 

Over the last couple of years, several solar stocks have been gaining traction. 

In about one year, Invesco Solar ETF TAN has moved from about $25 per share to about $86. First Solar has slowly been moving up over the last year, while JinkoSolar Holdings Co., Ltd JKS has shot up from about $20 a share to $50.

Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH has experienced enormous growth, recently reaching $177 per share, and NextEra Energy NEE is on a long climb to $83.91 per share.