2023 Is About to Be Solar Energy's Year

The rapid growth of the solar-power industry continues to gain steam...

Regular readers know that I'm optimistic about the future of renewable energy. This sector has been steadily growing over the past few years. And that growth is going to pick up even more over the next decade as more big companies get behind the trend.

In fact, more businesses and states are adding to their solar initiatives right now. And as a result, 2023 could be a huge year for the industry.

Headline No. 1:

Solar energy is expected to dominate new U.S. electric-generating capacity this year.

McCall's Call: According to the Energy Information Administration ("EIA"), U.S. developers plan to add about 55 gigawatts ("GW") of new electric-generating capacity this year.

And more than half of that capacity (about 29 GW) will come from solar energy.

Just to give you an idea of the scale of these estimates, one gigawatt is enough energy to power about 750,000 homes. That's huge... It means that the solar power added this year could be enough to power nearly 22 million homes!

Texas and California will lead the charge on this front. The two states are slated to add 7.7 GW and 4.2 GW of solar capacity this year, respectively. That's more than 40% of the overall projected installations.

If the EIA's forecast pans out, this year's growth will mark a new record for utility-scale solar-power capacity – more than double the current record gains from 2021.

This is great news for solar energy. The industry is booming, and the EIA's projections show that this trend will only continue. So now the question is...

How do we get exposure to this industry?

My McCall Report subscribers are invested in the inevitable growth of renewable-power sources through our Energy Barbell portfolio. It's a unique strategy that allows us to profit from both sides of the energy trend – clean and dirty energy.

You can click here to find out how to learn more about this strategy – and the names of the two stocks that make up the portfolio.

If you're not yet a subscriber, you can keep an eye on solar stocks via some of the industry leaders like SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), Enphase Energy (ENPH), and SunPower (SPWR). There's also the Invesco Solar Fund (TAN), which is a broad measure of the sector.

Cash is pouring into the solar space right now. And ever since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed last year, investment has only accelerated. I suspect this is only the beginning.

Headline No. 2:

Google plans to launch an artificial-intelligence ("AI") bot to rival ChatGPT.

McCall's Call: I talked about AI in yesterday's Making Money With Matt McCall podcast episode and the massive popularity spike we've seen in AI-powered bot ChatGPT lately. It just reached 100 million monthly active users – and it did so faster than the likes of Uber Technologies (UBER), Instagram, and even TikTok!

It appears to be taking the world by storm. In fact, Google search results for "artificial intelligence" have skyrocketed since ChatGPT launched at the end of November.

ChatGPT has clearly been a big success. So on Monday, Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google subsidiary announced that it will launch its own AI-powered chatbot. It's called Bard. And next week, CEO Sundar Pichai plans to put the bot through the ringer via "an internal hackathon" to make sure it's of the highest quality.

All of the hype is fueling some huge moves in AI-related stocks...

Take AI-software provider C3.ai (AI), for example. The stock has soared 155% from its December 28 low and now sits at its highest level in more than a year.

But don't let the fear of missing out ("FOMO") convince you to chase these stocks higher. Moves like the one we're seeing in C3.ai are usually unsustainable – and can reverse to the downside quickly.

With that said, I believe that AI will play a huge part in our lives in the future.

The technology will continue to improve and be used in more parts of the economy. Right now, a lot of AI projects are centered around data analysis and machine learning for industrial automation.

Throughout the Roaring 2020s and beyond, I expect AI to become an even bigger industry than it is today. And I'm not the only one... Business-consulting firm Grand View Research estimates that the global AI market will grow at a compound annual rate of more than 37% through 2030.

So you can see the incredible growth ahead. And you can bet my team and I are keeping a close eye on any and all buying opportunities coming our way.

Here's to the future,

Matt McCall
Editor, Daily Insight
February 8, 2023

Did You Miss My Latest Podcast?

AI is once again taking the world by storm... People from all walks of life are talking about ChatGPT. It's the hottest tech release in years – maybe even ever. So on this new episode of Making Money With Matt McCall, I dive into all things AI.

AI's popularity is far reaching. But it's not just everyday folks using it. Like I discussed today, big tech companies are getting involved in the space now, too. So whether you like it or not, this is a huge trend that's here to stay. And it will only become a bigger part of our lives in the years and decades ahead. Tune in to learn more on this AI-inspired episode.