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Renewable energy stocks have gone through a crazy year, and as the market pushed the entire industry higher, there was a rise at the beginning of this year. But as optimism fades and values ​​decline, companies must begin to prove that they are worthy of high valuations. 

Our three contributors highlighted the renewable energy stocks they are grateful for, SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR), Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH), and Lucid Group (NASDAQ: Code: LCID) topped the list. 

Travis Hoium (SunPower): For SunPower, the past few years have been a crazy journey. The company sold its utility-scale solar business, divested its solar panel manufacturing business, and is looking for buyers or other alternatives for its commercial solar business. The rest is the residential solar installation business, which has become one of the most valuable parts of the solar market. You can see below that it treats investors very well. 

I am grateful that SunPower has found a path to success in the market and can now focus on becoming a growth stock. The company has established the infrastructure for large-scale sales, design, installation and financing of residential solar projects, which is exactly what the market today is paying off. It made a fortune in selling its inverter business to Enphase Energy to acquire shares, which ultimately saved the company. 

The next few years are critical to SunPower's long-term prospects. If it can grow in the residential solar field and improve profitability, the stock may continue to rise. But solar installation has always been a competitive business, and the company has had its ups and downs in the past decade. I think what will separate SunPower for a long time is the ability to combine high-quality solar installations with energy storage and monitoring functions. When all these energy products come together​​, SunPower will continue to provide us with new energy products to thank. 

Howard Smith (Enphase Energy): I first heard of Enphase Energy seven years ago, when I was studying installing solar panels on the roof. I didn't invest in this company at the time, or even considered it. This is just a name on the equipment that controls and monitors solar energy that I entered into my home after I invested. Seven years later, the investment in the solar panel system has paid for itself—including taxes and other incentives—I hope I bought Enphase stock by more than 2000%.

My device may be the company's first-generation micro-inverter and related technologies, but Enphase recently released the eighth-generation micro-inverter system. IQ8 is an all-in-one system. The company said it “can use only sunlight to form a microgrid during a power outage, and it can provide backup power even without a battery.” Although it is currently only available in North America, as Enphase has been committed to global Within the scope of development, this situation will soon change. 

Enphase recently launched its battery storage system in Belgium and has just expanded to Brazil and Italy. The company is not only growing geographically, but also increasing its addressable market base. Enphase just announced plans to acquire ClipperCreek, an electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions company. 

Enphase plans to integrate this technology into its product base to provide another product for its global distributors and installers to provide with its solar and battery technology systems. Entering the field of electric vehicles also provides Enphase with a way to "provide two-way charging capabilities for car-to-home and car-to-grid applications." 

Investors who hold Enphase stock through explosive growth may thank them for their patience. But stocks are not the only part of Enphase this year that deserves thanks. Enphase's products can provide a considerable return on investment for itself, while supporting the renewable energy conversion that the entire planet can also thank. 

Daniel Foelber (Lucid Group): From work before the merger with Churchill Capital IV, to the merger in July, and to the delivery in late October, Lucid brought investors wild, turbulent and often stressful in 2021 experience. But so far this year, Lucid is the world's best-performing automaker-providing four times the return for persistent investors. 

In just one year, Lucid has transformed from an unproven company to a company with the best technology in the entire electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The short-term outlook looks impressive. Its balance sheet has ample cash, and its manufacturing plant has sufficient capacity to meet the demand in 2022. It currently has more than 17,000 reservations and is expected to establish 20 sales and service centers in the United States and Canada by the end of the year. 

The medium-term outlook also looks good. By 2022, the company expects to produce four versions of Lucid Air sedans, with prices ranging from US$77,400 to US$169,000. By 2022, it will further increase its manufacturing capacity to 50,000 units in order to produce Air and Gravity SUVs in 2023.  

In the long run, Lucid is expected to expand to Saudi Arabia and China, which are its second and third largest markets by demand. By 2026, it is expected to deliver more than 250,000 units. It also plans to increase its manufacturing capacity to 500,000 units by the end of this decade.

In the past three months, Lucid's stock price has been as low as $16.12 per share and as high as $57.44 per share. To say that this is a rough road is an understatement. However, despite the volatility, long-term investors hope that Lucid's growth story may only be in the first or second game. The lesson here is that successful technology and a competent management team that can deliver on promises are the keys to a great company. As long as Lucid continues to capture market share and plan a path to profitability, investors may be grateful in the next few years. 

These companies are not only building infrastructure to reduce emissions and provide clean energy to the world, but also provide investors with returns that exceed the market. This is a win-win combination in the energy sector, so we thank these stocks. 

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