SunPower Corporation (SPWRQ)

[Tom Joad]

Trump and congress are hostile to renewable energy so it's not a good idea to put too much stock in his suggestion, building a solar border wall.

- Congress has proposed cutting 69.3% from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Department of Energy FY 2018 Congressional Budget Request

- Trump appointed Scott Pruitt to the EPA. He's a lawyer with no understanding of the mission of the EPA especially with regard to CO2 emissions. If he understood the issue, he wouldn't be saying what he's said in the past.

From March 9, 2017 -

EPA Chief Questions Agency’s Right to Regulate Carbon Emissions

- Trump's budget proposal eliminates the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing rogram because 20 Department of Energy the private sector is better positioned to finance disruptive energy research and development and to commercialize innovative technologies.

America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again

Comment: With margins going so low due to oversupply it's difficult for solar companies to make a profit. Recent bankruptcies and quarterly losses in the solar industry prove this. So it's dubious to say "the private sector is better positioned to finance disruptive energy research and development and to commercialize innovative technologies."

- We've withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, so there's no incentive to develop solar power to meet the climate agreement.

Serious government initiatives to support solar would dwarf a 1.4 gigawatt solar installation, enough to power about 220,000 average sized homes.

"Multiplying 812,307 by five, you get 4,061,538 panels in total. Since 72-cell modules usually produce 350 watts (W), you end up with about 1.4 billion W (or 1.4 GW) of power. Grieser says that's enough to power 220,000 average-size homes annually."

How many homes Trump's wall could power if it was covered in solar panels