Best Solar & Clean-Energy ETFs for Nevada Investors in 2026

Nevada hosts substantial utility-scale solar capacity and some related manufacturing activity. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track clean energy or solar indices provide diversified holdings in companies active in these sectors. The following summarizes the principal such funds available as of 2026, their differences in focus and holdings, and the presence of companies such as First Solar and Nextracker.

Note: To keep up with fast-moving solar trends in Nevada, I use AI tools to help with research and writing. Every post is personally reviewed and edited by me.

Important Notice

This material is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or financial advice. Clean-energy exchange-traded funds are subject to market volatility, and their holdings, fees, and performance change over time. Readers should review the most recent prospectus and consult a qualified financial professional regarding their individual circumstances.

For more details about solar investing, explore our 2026 guides on Solar Real Estate Investing in Nevada, and Solar Stocks with Nevada Ties.

Holdings in Solar and Clean-Energy Exchange-Traded Funds

A solar or clean-energy ETF is essentially a basket of stocks from multiple public companies that you can buy and sell on an exchange just like an individual stock. The name on the fund does not mean every holding is a utility-scale solar farm in the desert or a company building projects in a particular region; it simply reflects the rules of the index the fund tracks.

Common Exchange-Traded Fund Approaches

• Solar-Focused Funds: These funds invest strictly in companies that make their money from solar—such as panel makers, tracker manufacturers, inverter suppliers, rooftop installers, and project developers. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) is a classic example. Because these funds usually hold only a few dozen companies, performance is often heavily driven by a handful of the industry’s biggest players.
• Broad Clean Energy Funds: These funds spread their investments across the entire green energy sector, combining solar with wind power, hydropower, grid equipment, and global electric utilities. The iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) is a major example. While you still get exposure to solar hardware makers, a large chunk of the fund goes toward international wind companies and utility providers.
• U.S. Clean-Tech & Electrification Funds: These funds take a broader tech-focused approach, adding electric vehicles, power microchips, battery storage systems, and hydrogen gear into the mix. A fund like the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN) behaves much more like a high-growth U.S. tech portfolio than a direct investment in desert solar installations.

Why Fund Holdings Change Over Time

These funds don’t stay the same. As stock prices move and the underlying indexes are rebalanced, the mix of companies shifts. A fund that looked heavily concentrated in solar manufacturers a year ago can end up with more weight in utilities, overseas companies, or related industries after a few quarters. Checking the current top holdings gives a clearer picture than relying on an older description.

TAN: Concentrated Solar Exposure

The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) is the primary U.S.-listed fund focused on the solar industry. It tracks the MAC Global Solar Energy Index, which includes companies across the solar supply chain such as module manufacturers, tracker and inverter suppliers, installers, and project developers.

Representative Top Holdings

Recent portfolio snapshots show First Solar (FSLR) and Nextpower (NXT) among the fund’s largest holdings, each often representing roughly 9% to 11% of assets. Other companies that regularly appear near the top include:

• Inverter Systems & Energy Management Software: Companies like Enphase Energy and SolarEdge that supply power conversion hardware, module-level power electronics (MLPE), and digital monitoring software for optimizing system yield and battery integration.
• Residential & Infrastructure Developers: Major players including Sunrun (the nation’s leading residential solar and storage provider), Clearway Energy (a large-scale utility asset owner and operator), and Array Technologies (a specialist in utility-scale ground-mount tracking systems).
• Global Project Developers & Asset Owners: Select international energy companies and independent power producers (IPPs) that fund, build, and operate utility-scale clean energy facilities across worldwide grid markets.

Relevance to Nevada Investors

First Solar modules are used in several large utility-scale plants in Nevada, and Nextpower manufactures solar tracking systems near Las Vegas. TAN holds both companies along with other firms across the solar supply chain. It is not a Nevada-specific fund and includes international developers and residential installers, but it provides the most direct exposure among U.S.-listed ETFs to the core hardware suppliers supporting the state’s solar industry.

Key Considerations and Trade-Offs

Concentration increases both potential returns and volatility.

• High Price Volatility: Solar hardware and tracking companies are cyclical; while the fund can surge during industry expansions, it faces sharp pullbacks when conditions turn—such as during federal interest rate hikes, shifting trade tariffs, or panel price drops.
• Higher Operating Costs: The fund carries a 0.70% expense ratio, which is higher than typical broad-market index funds and can reduce total returns over long investment horizons.
• Global Market Risk: With nearly half of its portfolio invested in overseas firms, the fund carries added exposure to international regulations, trade disputes, and foreign currency fluctuations.

Who Watches TAN?

Investors usually turn to TAN when they want direct, targeted solar exposure without diluting their position with wind power, electric vehicles, or broad utilities. Those seeking a broader, less volatile approach often look to funds like ICLN instead.

ICLN: Broader Global Clean Energy

The iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) is frequently used as a core holding for clean energy exposure. Unlike a pure solar fund, it holds a global portfolio of companies across solar, wind, utilities, and other segments of the energy transition.

Index and Investment Approach

ICLN tracks the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index, which targets approximately 100 companies involved in clean energy production and related technologies. This broader scope provides exposure across multiple technologies and regions, reducing concentration in any single segment of the industry.

Solar Exposure within the Portfolio

Solar-related companies such as First Solar and Nextpower remain among ICLN’s larger holdings but their influence is moderated by the fund’s broader allocation across wind, utilities, and other clean energy segments. As a result, strong performance in solar manufacturing is typically offset or amplified by results in the rest of the portfolio.

Key Considerations and Trade-Offs

Compared to specialized solar funds, ICLN offers a few structural differences:

• Lower Cost Profile: Features a lower expense ratio—typically sitting around 0.38% to 0.41%—which minimizes annual management fees and helps protect total returns over long investment horizons.
• Reduced Downside Volatility: While still a high-beta sector fund subject to overall clean-energy market swings, its heavy allocation toward stable utility operators historically buffers the portfolio against the severe drawdowns common to pure-play solar ETFs.
• Dividend Income Potential: Unlike pure solar hardware funds that regularly reinvest all cash flow back into operations, ICLN holds established global utilities and energy infrastructure companies that distribute modest, regular dividend payouts.

Who Watches ICLN?

ICLN is generally suited to investors seeking diversified exposure to the global clean energy transition at a relatively low expense ratio. It provides partial rather than concentrated exposure to solar manufacturing and project development.

QCLN and Other Clean-Tech Baskets

Not every fund with “clean” or “green” in its name is a pure solar vehicle. The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN) includes solar companies, but its performance is driven by a broader set of electrification and clean-technology businesses.

What QCLN Owns

QCLN tracks the Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index and typically holds around 50 companies. Solar-related names such as First Solar and Nextpower appear in the portfolio, but they generally carry smaller weights than larger positions in electric vehicles, semiconductors, and other electrification-related businesses. Recent allocations have been concentrated in:

• Electric Vehicles & Advanced Mobility: High-growth original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)—such as Tesla—that drive demand for lithium-ion battery integration, power electronics, and commercial EV charging infrastructure.
• Power Generation Hardware & Semiconductors: Specialized clean-tech suppliers, including stationary fuel cell developers (like Bloom Energy) and power-semiconductor manufacturers that manage power conversion and grid connectivity.
• Clean-Tech Supply Chains & Energy Storage: Advanced battery cell manufacturers, raw material processors, and commercial Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) suppliers that support large-scale power resilience and grid balancing.

Because of this broader allocation, QCLN’s performance can be influenced by developments in semiconductors, electric vehicles, and fuel cells as well as by solar manufacturing and project activity.

Other Green Funds

Media coverage often groups various clean-energy ETFs together, which can lead investors to purchase a broader vehicle focused on electric vehicles and semiconductors when they intended to obtain concentrated solar exposure.

• Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW): Heavily favors small- and mid-cap high-growth clean-tech companies, creating significantly higher price volatility and sharper market swings than mega-cap funds.
• SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (CNRG): Takes a broader thematic approach using AI-driven scoring to balance solar with wind, hydroelectric, grid equipment, and power storage, functioning as a multi-sector clean-power index rather than a dedicated solar fund.
• First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN): Focuses strictly on wind turbine manufacturers, offshore developers, and supporting infrastructure, serving as an industry-specific sector fund rather than a substitute for solar exposure.

How These Funds Overlap with Nevada-Tied Companies

Proximity to large solar projects or manufacturing facilities does not place those physical assets in an investor’s brokerage account. ETFs hold shares of publicly traded companies, and only a limited number of those companies maintain significant operations in Nevada. The resulting overlap is real but often smaller than it appears.

First Solar (FSLR)

First Solar supplies thin-film modules used in multiple utility-scale installations in Nevada. The company is typically one of the largest holdings in pure-play solar ETFs such as TAN and also appears with meaningful weight in broader vehicles such as ICLN and QCLN. Ownership of these ETFs provides exposure to First Solar’s earnings but does not confer ownership of individual power plants.

Nextpower / Nextracker (NXT)

Nextpower (formerly Nextracker) maintains manufacturing facilities in the Las Vegas area that produce steel torque tubes and tracker components used in utility-scale solar installations. The company is frequently among the largest holdings in TAN and carries smaller weights in broader funds such as ICLN and QCLN. As a result, TAN provides the closest equity exposure to this local manufacturing activity.

Array Technologies (ARRY)

Array Technologies supplied trackers for the Gemini solar project. The company appears in some solar-focused ETFs such as TAN, typically at a smaller weight than First Solar or Nextpower. It is not held by every clean-energy fund, and a modest portfolio allocation does not create material exposure to any single project.

NextEra Energy (NEE)

NextEra Energy develops and owns utility-scale solar projects in Nevada. Because it is a large, diversified electric utility rather than a pure solar equipment company, it is rarely a significant holding in solar-focused ETFs such as TAN. Exposure to project ownership and development is more commonly obtained through the individual stock.

Costs, Volatility, and Common Mistakes

Even an appropriate fund category can underperform if fees are overlooked, volatility is underestimated, or the investment is made for reasons unrelated to the fund’s actual holdings. These issues arise frequently among solar and clean-energy ETFs.

Added Costs

Expense ratios among solar and clean-energy ETFs vary substantially depending on the fund’s strategy and index methodology:

• Broad Global Clean Energy Funds (e.g., ICLN): Feature the lowest cost structure in the group, carrying expense ratios around 0.38% to 0.39% annually—making them the most cost-effective option for long-term buy-and-hold strategies.
• Targeted U.S. Clean-Tech Funds (e.g., QCLN): Occupy a middle-tier fee tier, generally hovering around 0.59% to 0.60% annually to cover the index management of broader thematic portfolios like electric vehicles, grid tech, and power storage.
• Pure-Play Solar Funds (e.g., TAN): Command the highest management fees, typically running around 0.70% annually—a premium reflecting the specialized research and rebalancing required for niche hardware and component supply chains.

On a $10,000 investment, paying 0.39% versus 0.70% comes out to roughly $39 compared to $70 each year in management fees. Over a decade, that cost gap compounds noticeably. Paying a higher fee can make sense if a fund is the only way to execute a specific, targeted thesis. It becomes much harder to justify if two funds hold many of the same top companies.

Sector Volatility Is Standard

Clean-energy funds are prone to sharp pricing swings. Factors like rate cycles, changing trade policies, and supply chain bottlenecks can trigger drawdowns of 50% or more, even during periods of long-term sector growth. As a rule, a pure-play solar fund will experience more drastic price swings than a global clean-energy basket, which will still be significantly more volatile than a broad market index like the S&P 500.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Confusing Location with Portfolio Inclusion: Physical proximity to landmark installations—like the Gemini Solar-Plus-Storage project—or local manufacturing facilities does not guarantee those specific physical assets or operating companies are held within TAN, ICLN, or QCLN.
• Mistaking Broad Clean-Tech for Pure Solar: If electric vehicle makers or power semiconductor suppliers occupy top positions in a fund, you hold a broad clean-tech growth basket rather than a targeted bet on utility-scale solar energy.
• Stacking Overlapping Funds: Holding TAN, ICLN, and QCLN concurrently often leads to unintended portfolio concentration—doubling or tripling exposure to industry heavyweights like First Solar or Nextracker while accumulating unwanted exposure to EV manufacturers or international power utilities.
• Treating Sector ETFs as Defensive Investments: These products are thematic, growth-oriented equity funds—not low-risk capital preservation vehicles or fixed-income bond alternatives.
• Relying on Outdated Fact Sheets: Index funds rebalance holdings on a fixed schedule. A fund’s top allocations and sector weightings today can shift significantly from what older reporting or past marketing materials described.

A Simple Pre-Purchase Check

1. Review the latest expense ratio and the current top 10 holdings on the fund issuer’s website.
2. Position clean-energy ETFs as a satellite allocation within a portfolio, rather than a primary foundation.
3. Recheck the fund’s holdings after quarterly or semi-annual rebalances to ensure the portfolio still aligns with your original strategy.

If you want to dive deeper, review individual solar stocks with direct Nevada operations, and consult a licensed financial advisor to review how these options fit into your long-term wealth strategy.

Thank you for reading! If you have any feedback or a specific Nevada solar topic you’d like us to cover next, please reach out directly at admin@nevadasolarguide.com.