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SolarGenerators dot us Auction

Dot US, The next dot Com?

In a test of the .us domain space , an internet speculator has released the domain SolarGenerators.us

Those watching the future are closely tracking the auction as it represents the convergence of the local top level domain for the United States as well as a solidly defined commercial domain in the solar industry.

The dot US name space is expected by many to achieve successes seen in European country domains such as .de (Germany) and co.uk (United Kingdom).    The value of these investments have skyrocketed in the last two years as experiments in local search preferences by major search engines have vaulted local domains in regional tests to the top of the search results within the countries served by those markets.

It is anticipated by many, that the search engine giant, Google will give similar preferences to .US domains within the highest internet market value region, the United States.
    
If speculators predictions that local geographical targeting by search engines continues to increase in importance over less highly focused global extensions such as .com, .net and .info, within the search engine algorithms then the holders of .us domains stand to gain tremendous market advantage over their rivals within their home markets.

Solar Generators Auction

The Solar Generators auction represents an interesting case study in that it resides at the intersection of key metrics for evaluating site demand.   Green domains and solar energy in particular are among the fastest growing sectors of the domain market and represent the real market space for a rapidly expanding, heavily subsidized and economically vital area of solar mass production.    

The Solar Energies Industry Association (SEIA) reports that the solar industry is expected to more than double in size reaching annual revenues of over 100 billion dollars.  Over six gigawatts of solar generation capacity are currently in various stages of deployment in the United States.  In 2008, 1.2 gigawatts of installations including 342 megawatts of photo-voltaic installations were installed.   Industry analyst firm Solarbuzz reports that global revenues for 2009 were in the region of 38.5 billion dollars, with the US currently the third largest global market share.  Other industry reports project that the United States will be the largest solar manufacturer in the world by 2020.

The demand for solar and wind generators has sparked intense competition for the energy market share both for home and large scale industrial usage.   The manufacturer or distributor who controls this namespace will be in a strong position to lock in a substantial share of internet traffic for years to come.

Aside from the market space itself, the domain represents a tangible product as well as a system wide description for solar applications.   This combination allows great flexibility in a long term plan of expanded web presence by whoever wins the auction.

Ultimately the intersection between a key product, a vital industry in a rapid growth sector and the domain country code for the United States should be interesting to watch.   Will a web savvy company emerge with the prize, or will the name fall into the hands of a domain speculator who has a keen eye for emerging trends?

You can follow the auction here as the story develops.