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, 

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

In about one year, Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE: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 (NYSE:JKS) has shot up from about $20 a share to $50.

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

Photo: Manny Becerra via Unsplash.