Once a project is off the ground, investors can earn returns “higher than most bonds,” Heck said. “There are a lot of pension funds with long-term horizons that are very interested in this space.”
“Solar is now bankable,” Arno Harris, chief executive officer of Sharp Corp.’s renewable power development unit Recurrent Energy, said. “When solar was perceived as more risky it required a premium,” and now it’s “becoming part of a much broader capital market.”
According to a Wall Street Journal report, U.S trade officials have placed trade tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports of between 2.9% and 4.73% after finding Chinese solar manufacturers received unfair government assistance. The Commerce Department is also expected to rule on Chinese manufacturers exporting cells and panels below fair market price by May 17.
Guggenheim Solar ETF
For more information on the solar industry, visit our solar category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.