Renewable Energy & Clean Tech covers solar panels, inverters, trackers, fuel cells, hydrogen, energy storage, charging and renewable fuels. MoatScope covers 55 companies here. None has a wide moat; five have a narrow moat and 50 none.
How the industry makes money
Most companies manufacture equipment for power projects and homes, so they earn on hardware margins that depend on scale, technology and policy support. Demand rises and falls with incentives, interest rates and project financing.
Where the moats are
Moats are rare. Among the five narrow-moat companies, switching costs and intangible assets each appear in four, usually technology and installer relationships.
The narrow-moat group is First Solar, Nextpower, Bloom Energy, SolarEdge and Enphase. Companies without a moat include Daqo New Energy, Ballard Power and Plug Power. Nextpower scores 67 and First Solar 63 on MoatScope's quality scale, against an industry average of 19.
What wears moats down
Manufacturing overcapacity drives prices down, policy changes can reshape demand overnight, higher interest rates make projects harder to finance, and technology keeps moving.
What to watch
- Tax credits, tariffs and other policy support.
- Panel and component prices.
- Interest rates and project financing.
Moat ratings and quality scores on this page update as companies report. Price versus fair value for every company in the industry is in the screener.