For full article see: Mercom Capital Group

Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the solar sector in 2016.

Total global corporate funding in the solar sector, including venture capital/private equity (VC), debt financing, and public market financing, raised by public companies came to $9.1 billion, compared to $25.3 billion in 2015, a 64 percent drop.

“It was a challenging year for solar companies in terms of fundraising even as demand is expected to reach an all-time high,” commented Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder of Mercom Capital Group. “However, 2017 looks better than expected as lower module prices are expected to boost installation levels,” he added.

Global VC investments came to $1.25 billion in 77 deals in 2016, compared to $1.1 billion in 83 deals in 2015.

Among the Top VC deals in 2016, the largest was the $300 million raised by Sunnova Energy, followed by the $220 million raised by Solar Mosaic. Origis Energy and Silicon Ranch each raised $100 million.