Global solar financing reached US$14.5 billion in 2020, up 24% year-on-year

According to data released by clean energy market research firm Mercom Capital, total global solar corporate financing (including venture capital, private equity, debt financing and public market financing) reached $14.
5 billion in 2020, up 24%
from $11.
7 billion in 2019.

In the first half of 2020, global solar company financing fell by 25% year-on-year due to the sudden coronavirus epidemic sweeping the world, but the recovery in the second half of the year was rapid and broad-based, achieving a 24%
increase for the whole year.
Among them, publicly listed solar companies have had an unprecedented year
.
Solar ETFs are up 225%, with 15 solar stocks up more than
100% in 2020.

Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, said: "Acquisitions of solar assets have reached an all-time high in a pandemic year and have become an investment paradise, especially in the uncertain COVID economy
.
”

In 2020, global venture capital and private equity (VC/PE) in the solar industry reached 41 deals with a cumulative size of US$1.
2 billion, compared to US$1.
4 billion
in 53 transactions in 2019.

Specifically, $1.
1 billion was invested in 27 solar downstream companies, accounting for 90%
of total VC investment in 2020.
Solar service providers raised $61 million; PV companies raised $17 million; System Balance raised $15 million; Thin-film technology companies raised $15 million and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) companies raised $5.
5 million
.

The companies that received the most venture capital in 2020 were Ayana Renewable Power, which raised $390 million; Silicon Ranch Corporation, which raised $225 million; Brighte, which raised $76 million; and Sunseap Group, which raised $72 million.
Aurora Solar and Zero Mass Water each raised $
50 million.

In 2020, a total of 102 venture capital and private equity investors participated in financing transactions, including five in multiple funding
rounds.

In 2020, public market financing grew 101% to $5.
1 billion
.
Array Technologies raised $1.
2 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In 2020, announced debt financing reached $8.
3 billion, up 6.
4%
year-over-year.
Eight securitization transactions totaling $2.
2 billion were recorded in 2020, the largest amount raised through securitization in a year
.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the largest investor in mega projects was Societe Generale, which invested in five projects
.
It was followed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which invested in four projects
.
Crédit Agricole, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and IDB Invest have invested in three projects
each.

In 2020, 62 M&A transactions were completed in the solar sector, compared to 65 in 2019
.
Most of the deals involved solar downstream businesses
.
The biggest deal of 2020 was Sunrun's acquisition of Vivint Solar
in an all-stock deal of $3.
2 billion.

In 2020, there were 231 M&A deals for large-scale solar projects, compared to 192 in 2019
.
In 2020, a record 39.
5 GW of large-scale solar projects changed hands, compared to 26.
1 GW
in 2019.
This is the largest number of
projects awarded in a single year to date.