SAN DIEGO--People in the solar industry are hopeful that the sun is a good place to put money these days.To be sure, the financial crunch is rippling through even the fast-growing solar business: With falling house prices and general belt-tightening, consumers may be more reluctant to purchase solar panels.
To be sure, the financial crunch is rippling through even the fast-growing solar business: With falling house prices and general belt-tightening, consumers may be more reluctant to purchase solar panels, even if they want renewable electricity. And less available capital makes it difficult to finance large-scale projects, like corporate rooftop arrays or solar power plants.
But even with the gloomy economic outlook, the mood at this week's Solar Power International 2008 conference was decidedly upbeat. The solar industry scored a major policy win, getting an eight-year extension to federal tax credits that tacked on more generous terms for homeowners.
And in a volatile investment environment, solar looks solid, purely from a financial point of view, many executives argued.
"I think there's a flight to quality and we believe there's a flight to solar because of that," said Tom Werner, the CEO of California-based solar panel manufacturer and installer SunPower. He noted that big solar projects over the past three or four years have created a track record of delivering expected financial returns.
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