Wharton Journal

Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: Insider

Clean Tech? Is this an industry, an investment class, a movement, a career, a bubble? Yes, yes and yes! The Wharton Energy Club has been traveling the globe learning about Clean Tech, and how we can find careers that save the world while making money. What we found has us all very excited about the world of Clean Tech.

Here Comes the Sun...

First, our travels took us to Asia to explore solar, where a small group of energy lovers went on a side trip from the Japan Trek to visit Sharp. Mr. Koji Yamada, the head of the solar academy at Sharp, greeted us warmly. After a quick tour of their show room that included giant plasma TVs, Sharp's first mechanical pencil and calculator, and a television that simultaneously shows two different images to viewers looking at the screen from a different angle, we got down to the business of solar.

Solar has taken off in Japan, thanks to large government subsidies and high electricity prices. Their products are on residential houses throughout Japan, often integrated into the roofs. What we learned is that traditional photovoltaic technology is proven and effective, though strong subsidies are required to encourage growth in the industry.

When we asked Mr. Yamada whom he viewed as potential competitors (Sharp is the world's largest producer with 24% of the market) he mentioned SunTech, a young Chinese company started in 2001 that now controls +8% of the market.A few days later on my trip to China, I visited SunTech to learn more about their strategy and products. SunTech was listed on the NYSE in late 2005 making its owner Dr. Shi the world's the first solar billionaire.

Upon arrival at the factory, I joined the new workers for lunch. Guess what they were doing? Watching Al Gore's movie Inconvenient Truth with Chinese subtitles. Really an astonishing sight. After a short discussion with the US sales manager, my friend and I took a tour of the factory.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese operation was extremely manual compared to their competitors, and less technologically sophisticated. SunTech sells almost all their production to Germany, whose aggressive subsidies make solar not only competitive but profitable for owners of systems.

But Clean Tech is not all about the Sun

In late March, a second group of students went to pay homage to the guru's of tech, the kings and queens of Silicon Valley to participate in the first MBA Clean Tech Trek in the country. We visited with leading venture capital firms including MDV, DFJElement, Lightspeed, MMA Renewables and Expansion Capital to find out exactly what clean tech was. (Special thanks to Abhay Bhargava for organizing this fantastic trek.)

Continued...

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