Total global corporate funding in the solar sector rose 15% year-over-year in the first half of 2018 to USD 5.3 billion (EUR 4.5bn), according to Mercom Capital Group llc.
In the second quarter alone, total corporate funding, including venture capital (VC) funding, public market and debt financing, was USD 2.8 billion, compared to USD 2.5 billion in the preceding quarter and USD 1.4 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Mercom Capital Group chief executive Raj Prabhu said that the first half of 2018 has been marked by uncertainty due to Trump's tariffs and the recent Chinese subsidy pullback. "Though financial activity was better compared to the same period last year, the market is still sorting out the winners and losers that would come out of a potential slowdown in Chinese demand, which is expected to result in an oversupply situation and eventual price crash in components across the globe," Prabhu added.
Global VC funding, including venture capital, private equity and corporate venture capital, fell 36% year-over-year in the first six months of 2018 to USD 458 million. The top five deals were the USD 112 million raised by Wunder Capital, USD 100 million by Sunnova, USD 55 million by Off-grid Electric, USD 50 million by Sunlight Financials and USD 25 million by d.light design.
Solar public market funding in the first half, in contrast, rose 33% year-over-year to USD 1.25 billion, and announced debt financing activity was also higher, up by 22% to USD 3.6 billion, with most of the increase coming from securitization deals of Vivint Solar and Dividend Finance.
There was USD 7.96 billion of large-scale project funding announced for 98 projects in the six-month period, eclipsing the record USD 7.4 billion raised in 81 project funding deals a year ago.
In the first half of 2018, 117 large-scale projects totaling 11.6 GW were acquired, up from 101 project acquisitions representing 10.9 GW of capacity in the first half of 2017. Investment firms and funds bought 4 GW of projects.
The number of solar merger and acquisition (M&A) deals was 46, compared to 41 in the first half of 2017.
(USD 1 = EUR 0.850)
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Source: Mercom Capital Group (mercomcapital.com)
