Elon Musk‘s declaration that “solar electricity will become by far the biggest source of power for civilization” has revived attention on a sector that’s been surging in real-world deployment but lagging in market performance. And for investors looking to ride what may be the steepest growth curve in global energy, several solar and clean-power ETFs have become the go-to vehicles — each capturing a different slice of the boom.
Solar-Focused ETFs In The Limelight
The Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE:TAN) remains the purest way to play Musk’s solar-first thesis. The fund concentrates its holdings in solar-specific companies – panel manufacturers, inverter makers, developers, and installation firms. Names across China, the U.S., and Europe dominate the portfolio, making TAN extremely sensitive to global installation trends.
After two bruising years driven by oversupply in modules and high financing costs, analysts suggest TAN may be positioned for a cyclical recovery as the world continues building record solar capacity. Over the past month, TAN has reversed its trend of outflows and attracted about $34.6 million in new investments, accompanied by a 5% gain in its share price. This was accompanied by a 5% price gain over the same period.
For those investors looking to gain exposure to solar without going all in, the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NASDAQ:ICLN) spreads its bets across a wider renewable universe of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and grid infrastructure. Solar remains one of its largest allocations, giving the fund meaningful exposure to the surge in clean-energy deployment while reducing the single-technology volatility that hit pure-play solar stocks in 2023–24, according to a 2024 report by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
ICLN also captures utilities integrating solar at utility scale, a segment benefiting from long-term offtake contracts and less squeezed margins. In the past month, ICLN has brought in more than $114 million in inflows, accompanied by price gains of 4%.
The SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (NYSE:CNRG) adds a different twist, focusing on innovative companies leading in next-generation energy technologies. Solar is a major pillar of its approach, but CNRG’s holdings also include grid-modernization firms, battery storage players, and power-electronics manufacturers that are key to managing the intermittency and scale-up of solar generation.
As solar becomes a larger share of the grid, these supporting technologies are seeing rising investor attention. CNRG saw $15 million in inflows in the past month, modest but promising after the lull of 2023-24.
Also Read: Solar Set To Power More Than Half of New US Energy in 2025
The Data Behind Musk's Megaphone Moment
Musk’s solar-dominance claim didn’t come out of thin air – it came while he was retweeting HODL Ranch CTO Jesse Peltan, who pointed out that China accounts for the majority of global electricity growth, and three-quarters of the new supply is solar. The latest global electricity dataset from Ember supports this: in the last 12 months, solar added close to 600 TWh of new generation worldwide, outpacing every other energy source by an enormous margin.
The buildout in China alone is reordering the global energy map, but similar momentum is evident in the U.S., where solar additions have been one of the strongest contributors to new capacity. Meanwhile, even as wind, nuclear and hydro show modest or negative growth, solar continues to scale at a pace that’s hard for even energy veterans to model.
A Market Disconnect — Or a Massive Opportunity?
But despite solar’s runaway installation numbers, the equity market hasn’t yet fully priced in this shift. High interest rates, supply chain imbalances, and compressed margins pushed solar stocks and ETFs sharply lower over the past two years. Now, with capacity additions soaring and input costs stabilizing, investors are reevaluating whether the sector’s slump has created an opening.
If Musk is correct – and data increasingly suggests he might be – solar isn’t just a clean-energy theme anymore. It’s becoming the backbone of global electricity growth. And ETFs may be the simplest way for investors to plug directly into the transformation.
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