Wind, Solar and Ocean Power Will require $17 billion of Capital Through 2012

Rapid growth has come to alternative energy. Wind power generation grew more than tenfold in the U.S. in the 2000s, while funding for solar startups soared past many information technology sectors. But in the 2010s, feed-in tariffs will decrease, and many renewable electricity sources will approach cost parity with fossil-fuel sources. As a result, manufacturers and investors will increasingly depend on production economics, not global politics, to achieve high returns on invested capital. According to FreeSky Research's latest report, Generating Returns on Renewable Generation, this will force adjustments in business and investment practices, with closer attention to specific issues, such as: * Heavy dependence on credit markets and syndicated loans to finance capacity expansion, * Raising fixed asset utilization for solar manufacturers. The defining financial trait of this sector will be a much greater diversity of capital sources than we've seen in either traditional manufacturing or information technology.