, Columnist
Drone Company Hangs On to Win Clean-Energy Bet
Aerovironment retreated to the defense business when electric cars stalled. Now it's green again, and investors are piling in.
It's a bird ...
Photographer: Paul Taggart/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Clean earns more money. That's the mantra for investors reaping the reward of alternative energy outperforming fossil fuel. They've known since 2013 that you don't have to drive a Tesla or own its shares (they're up 826 percent) to benefit from green companies lapping the carbon crowd with superior perennial returns.
The emergence of clean-energy companies as market leaders comes amid the decline in the cost of producing renewable energy. Solar power's cost per megawatt hour plummeted to $83 today from $128 in 2015 and almost $315 in 2009. The cost of wind per megawatt hour is $67, down from $90 in 2009.