ThinkEquity alternative energy analyst David Edwards has released his Trends for 2007 list, and there’s a couple I wanted to highlight. No. 1 is a move from bolting solar panels to roofs – effective but not aesthetically pleasing – to integrating solar cells into building materials themselves. Solar-panel maker SunPower (SPWR) president Richard Swanson recently acknowledged in a speech that customers – call them the Dwell magazine demographic – increasingly are buying solar systems based on their look. Thus SunPower’s sleek black rooftop panels, shown above. As Green Wombat recently reported, thin-film startup HelioVolt will work with building material companies to incorporate its solar cells into walls, windows and roofs. A second trend Edwards identifies is the emergence of new business models to finance alternative energy systems. Probably the biggest obstacle to wide-spread adoption of solar power systems is the fact that you have to wait as long as a decade before the free energy pays back the cost of the solar panels. "Its like buying 25 years worth of gas when you buy your car," quipped Dave Pearce, CEO of thin-film solar company Miasole, at a recent conference. One possible alternative, according to Edwards, is to have the solar panel installer retain ownership of the rooftop system and then strike a power purchase deal with the homeowner or business owner. He notes that Wal-Mart’s recent request for proposals to equip its stores with rooftop solar systems – a development first reported by green blogger Joel Makeover – requires bidders to present alternative ways to finance such systems, including ownership or leasing of solar panels by the retail giant or ownership by the installer.
Other green tech trends for the New Year predicted by Edwards are:
3. A move away from using silicon in solar cells.
4. More consolidation of solar panel producers and installers, such as SunPower’s 2006 purchase solar systems installer PowerLight.
5. Adoption of new ethanol technologies.
6. The emergence of a bioplastics industry as an offshoot of biofuels production.
7. Stepped up efforts by automakers to develop electric cars or hybrids that rely more on battery power than internal combustion engines.
8. More investment in the development of storage technologies to be used with renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
9. The continued rise of China as a huge market for renewable energy.
10. The Democrat-controlled Congress will take the lead on renewable energy legislation to bolster the solar and biofuels industries.
Green Wombat 
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