If you look at President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders in his first few days back in office, you might assume fossil fuels will be the end-all-be-all for U.S. energy policy.
But that seems like the wrong assumption. Instead, the solar industry is poised to enjoy enormous growth on the back of Trump declaring a national energy emergency, along with his support for Stargate, a $500-billion, private-sector AI data center deal.
Investors who enjoyed the nearly 300% gain of a popular solar fund, Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE Arca: TAN) during Trump’s first presidency (from the day after the 2016 election to the day after the 2020 election) understand that public messaging from the Oval Office isn’t always consistent with stock market returns.
Now, the circumstances around Trump’s second term could similarly support considerable gains for the solar industry, with solar stocks potentially soaring on the wings of an energy revolution ushered in by AI.
Trump’s Policies Actually Look Bullish for Solar
One of Trump’s first moves in his return to the White House was signing an executive order that declares a national energy emergency.
Sure, the executive order leaves out solar when defining energy sources. But it does not exclude it either, and states that “An affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy is a fundamental requirement for the national and economic security of any nation.”
If you read between the lines, it seems more likely than not that if the U.S. wants to win on energy, solar needs to be a key player.
It’s true that Trump has been hostile to wind power. Just look at his executive action to temporarily withdraw federal leases for offshore wind projects.
But wind and solar are not interchangeable. If wind power blows away during the Trump era, that could help solar become the renewable flag bearer in an all-of-the-above energy policy. Indeed, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) stated that the policy is “All the above, except wind,” as Politico reported.
But it’s not just that solar is sneaking through the cracks. Instead, solar shines as a viable way for the country to meet its ambitious energy goals — especially when it comes to powering the rocket ship that’s AI.
Specifically, Trump has talked up Stargate, a project backed by companies such as OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle, which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years to build out AI infrastructure in the U.S.
As Stargate builds out data centers to run AI workloads, it will need massive amounts of energy. When OpenAI pitched the project to the government last year, it reportedly said it wanted to build out multiple 5-gigawatt data centers, meaning each data center would consume about as much power as the city of Miami, according to Bloomberg.
Now, Bloomberg reports that at least part of that energy for Stargate will come from a solar and battery project built by a Softbank-backed company.
Think about it. We’re just in the beginning stages of an AI transformation. And just days into the new Trump administration, solar is already becoming an integral part of this marquee AI project.
The Golden Age for Solar?
As the Stargate project alone shows, the U.S. requires an emergency-level amount of energy to meet the demands of the AI sector. By 2028, worldwide spending on AI is expected to more than double to $632 billion, according to IDC. And by 2030, AI could contribute nearly $4 trillion to North America’s economy, according to PwC.
Think fossil fuels alone can power that growth? That seems unlikely, not only in terms of quantity but in terms of cost.
Imagine a company like Microsoft or Amazon building out a data center that requires multiple gigawatts of energy.
Are they going to try to convince investors that it makes sense to continually pay for fossil fuel electricity, let alone incur the environmental cost of massive greenhouse gas emissions? Or, does it seem likely that they would invest in clean energy like solar, which generally pays for itself over the long run compared to traditional grid power?
In short, the huge energy demands of AI only strengthen the economic case for solar.
So, as investors look to capitalize on the growth of AI, it’s important to consider not only the stocks directly involved in this sector — many of which already have high P/E ratios based on future expectations — but also the ones that could power this boom, like solar companies.
Considering that solar stock valuations have fallen sharply in recent years, including a tumble after Trump’s victory in November, now could be a prime opportunity to buy in.
Seize the Opportunity With SolarBank
Want to know a company that’s in a prime position to capitalize on these economic and political developments? Take a look at SolarBank (NASDAQ: SUUN).
As a vertically integrated renewable energy solutions provider based in Canada, with a new strategic focus on data center colocation and a growing U.S. footprint, SolarBank is poised to help clean energy and tech companies build out and manage new power sources in this new energy era.
One of the most prominent examples of SolarBank’s technical expertise and business success can be seen in its recent deal with photovoltaic cell manufacturer Qcells, a company that’s overall investing nearly $2.8 billion in the U.S. to boost domestic solar manufacturing and innovation.
Through an affiliate, Qcells agreed to acquire four community solar power projects from SolarBank in upstate New York, which together represent 25.577 MW of power. The deal also includes an agreement for SolarBank to build out the projects for Qcells to bring them to commercial operation via engineering, procurement, and construction (“EPC”) agreements.
In all, the deal with Qcells has a total value of approximately $49.5 million.
Similarly, SolarBank is building out community solar projects in upstate New York for Honeywell, a Fortune 500 company, in a $41 million deal.
With major deals like these blossoming lately, SolarBank’s revenue nearly doubled to $19 million from 2022 to 2023, and in 2024 it approximately tripled to $58 million.
Meanwhile, the world added an estimated 29% more solar capacity in 2024, according to Ember, an energy think tank.
While it’s difficult to draw perfect comparisons, that means SolarBank’s revenue grew at over twice the rate of solar capacity growth. Suppose that holds true and solar capacity doubles over the next few years. That means if SolarBank’s market capitalization grows at the same rate as its revenue, and the same trend continues, its valuation could roughly quadruple. Granted, there are many other factors at play.
What’s behind SolarBank’s impressive growth? A leadership team with over 100 years of combined experience in solar, with a profound understanding of the global energy sector and the financing that makes these projects possible.
SolarBank’s CEO, Dr. Richard Lu, has led clean energy teams around the world and served as an independent director for dynaCERT, a publicly traded carbon emissions reduction technology company. His background helps position SolarBank to capitalize on the demand for high-tech, low-carbon solutions.
Alongside Dr. Lu, other SolarBank executives such as CFO Sam Sun and COO Andrew van Doorn put SolarBank in a position to thrive. Sun has worked in finance at both public and private Canadian, U.S. and Chinese companies in areas such as cleantech and manufacturing, and van Doorn’s decades of experience include serving as Chairman of the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CANSIA).
Altogether, the leadership team understands and advocates for businesses needing a turnkey solutions provider like SolarBank to meet a litany of goals like reducing emissions, qualifying for clean energy tax incentives, and powering the development of new computing capabilities, particularly when it comes to AI.
Going forward, SolarBank plans to develop its own data center projects to further take advantage of the growing demand for these facilities and the clean energy necessary to power them.
Because even though it might seem like the U.S. is taking a step back on solar, history tells us that the sector thrives under Trump. Moreover, AI will substantially increase power demand, which could spark a clean energy boom.
Dr. Richard Lu, MD, MSc., MHSc., MBA
President & CEO, Director
Dr. Lu has more than 25 years of global energy experience developing and implementing growth strategies for organizations in North America, Europe and Asia. He leads a team of established and trusted developers, engineers, asset operators, and managers in the clean and renewable energy space in Canada and the US.
Sam Sun, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Sun is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada with more than 15 years of experience in corporate finance, accounting and internal control. He has been the head of finance or finance director at various Canadian, U.S. and Chinese public and private companies in the cleantech, marketplace, manufacturing and mining sectors.
Andrew van Doorn, PE
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. van Doorn has over 28 years of executive leadership experience in Engineering and Construction in the Renewable Energy and Utility sectors, with over 200MW of solar projects completed. As former Chairman of the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CANSIA), Mr. van Doorn is an expert in the management, operations, and construction of solar photovoltaic systems.
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