Sunny side of the Atlantic: U.S. solar investment crashes as Europe leads way
(David Callaway is founder and editor-in-chief of Callaway Climate Insights. He is the former president of the World Editors Forum, editor-in-chief of USA Today and MarketWatch, and CEO of TheStreet Inc. His climate columns have appeared in USA Today, The Independent, and New Thinking magazine).
The dramatic decline in U.S. solar stocks in the past three years — even more than wind companies — is creating a fractured market, with Europe and China leading the way.
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That’s the writing on the wall based on a new report by S&P Global, which shows private equity investment in U.S. residential and utility-scale solar down 93% from 2021. Just $3.1 billion has flowed into U.S. solar projects this year, down from $42 billion in 2021. And investment this year was more than 24% below last year.
At the same time, solar investment was up 55% in Europe last year, with more than $20 billion in private equity deals done, including in the U.K. It was also up in China.
Outlook dire
As President Joe Biden this week imposed tariffs on certain solar wafers and polysilicon products from China, and President-elect Donald Trump threatens more — as well as to derail Biden’s renewable investment strategy — the outlook for solar investment looks dire in the short term.
Not a good sign for beleaguered solar stocks but solar capacity continues to rise, so a turnaround is inevitable. Right now, however, the action in solar deals is most certainly in Europe.
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