Banks and other financial institutions are warming up to residential, commercial and utility solar projects again.
That is according to solar panel maker SunPower, which released third quarter earnings Thursday afternoon.
SunPower's share price in recent months
“As you know, financing was difficult in the first half of the year,” CEO Tom Werner said. “But (it) is improving.”
Werner said the company’s recently announced 24 MW plant in Montalto, Italy, is evidence of the change. “Smaller plants (between 1 and 25 MW) are easier to get financed in the current environment,” he said.
A boost in financing would go a long way toward accelerating growth in this emerging industry. So far this year, demand for solar panels has been soft and prices tumbled from over production. SunPower said its prices fell 10 percent in the third quarter and a similar decline is expected in the fourth.
But the company said business conditions are improving. It said it bid on more than 2 GW of projects in the third quarter – projects that can take a year or longer to come under contract. Still, a less than expected projection of 2010 growth pushed its stock sharply lower in late Wall Street trading.
