Solar Energy: Still Growing, But Not Everyone's A Winner

Before COVID-19, renewable energy was a bona fide, red-hot global investment theme. Then came the crash in oil prices, now in the high teens per barrel for North American benchmarks and falling fast.

We’ve seen this movie before. Oil and gas prices plummet. Interest in alternatives like wind and solar evaporates. And companies that investors couldn’t get enough of go out of business.

Now, the CoronaVirus outbreak in China, which has ravaged production in the ‘factory of the world’ since January, when it was formally recognised as a major threat, has created a piquant situation. Not only is China a major supplier, but even ‘manufacturers’ of modules and other components in India, have a significant China based supply line for key components. Global firms like Hanwha Solutions hve had to shutter plants in South Korea.