Solar Energy Venture Capital
The sun is the ultimate source of energy and life on earth. For much of human history, the sun was worshipped as a god and with good reason. Venture capital has seen solar energy in a very similar fashion.
The search for alternative forms of energy is one of those cutting edge issues that present excellent opportunities for the investment of venture capital. The problems of our existing means of energizing the world scream out for alternative solutions in a variety of shrill and diverse voices. The development of alternative energy sources is of such urgency that it is estimated that nine out of every fifteen deals made with venture capital goes toward an energy related investment. Solar energy is one of the areas attracting the interest of venture capital world wide.
The sun is the ultimate source of energy. As long as it keeps burning up there, life will continue on earth. When it goes out, we are finished. It is a bit hard to understand how it turned out that our energy of choice ended up being black dirty stuff from under the ground when the clean rays of the sun had been worshipped by mankind since the beginning of time.
It is not because the energy of the sun can not be trapped and harnessed. Our technological development just shot off in another direction with the discovery of fossil fuels. It might have had a bit to do with winter and cold. The sun seemed to turn off in the winter and the burning of fuels became necessary. Regardless, the technological methods necessary to trap and harness the tremendous energy of the sun are being developed today. It is possible that solar energy might one day become the energy source of choice.
It is this possibility that encourages the investment of venture capital into any company involved in solar energy. Although solar energy is already being used in many forms and Europe is actually ahead of the United States in its use industrially, the field still is new and wide open. Even as new technology is being researched, the expansion of existing technology to new applications and more wide spread use is also creating venture capital opportunities.
One of the things making solar energy exciting to venture capital fund managers is the taxation issues. The Government has realized the importance of alternative energy and is already using tax credits and deductions to encourage their use. These tax benefits help the company and the consumer. The fact that consumers are being encouraged to turn to alternative energy helps sales, so the company benefits twice. This subsidy to profitability is one of the things that makes solar energy a good solid investment for venture capital both short term and in the hopes of that future breakthrough.