Global corporate funding in the solar added up to $25.3 billion in 2015, according to a report released by global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group. This figure includes venture capital/private equity (VC), debt financing and public market financing raised by public companies and is slightly down from $26.5 billion in 2014.
“Overall it was a good year for the solar sector considering the turbulence in the stock markets and trouble with yieldcos in the 2nd half of the year. The extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was a much-needed boost for the sector, paving the way for a strong 2016,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group commenting on the report’s findings.
The report claims that solar downstream companies accounted for 69 per cent of the VC funding in 2015, with $727 million of the $1 billion raised and investments in PV technology companies came to $173 million and Balance of Systems companies raised $87 million.
Among the Top 5 VC deals in 2015, the largest was the $300 million raised by Sunnova Energy, followed by the $105 million raised by Silicor Materials. Sunlight Financial raised $80 million and Sungevity raised $50 million. Completing the Top 5 was Conergy, which raised $45 million.
Top investors include Santander with 12 projects, Rabobank with 9 projects and CIT Bank, Credit Agricole and KeyBank with 6.
With more than half of the debt coming from China, Mercom estimates that debt financing in 2015 totalled $18.3 billion, slightly down compared to $20 billion in 2014.
Announced large-scale project funding in 2015 exceeded $11.6 billion in 124 deals this year, compared to 2014 in which $14.2 billion was raised in 144 deals. A total of 145 investors funded about 6.6 GW of large-scale solar projects this year.
The report further states that it was a record year for dollars raised in residential and commercial, in particular, solar project funds in 2015 with 23 funds announced for a combined total of $5.5 billion, compared to the $4 billion raised in 34 funds in 2014.
BW Reporters
Simar Singh is one of the youngest members of the BW team. A fresh graduate from IIMC, she also holds a degree in political science from LSR. She enjoys covering power, startups, lifestyle and a little bit of tech.
