ThomasLloyd Capital LLC releases its first report on the Solar Industry

“Driven by the increase in global energy needs, the desire for fossil fuel independence and growing political support, the solar energy sector, of all the renewable energy sectors, presents the greatest opportunity for long-term growth. This report provides valuable insights into the solar energy sector and highlights the interesting investment opportunities that are currently unfolding", said Tony Coveney, Executive Director of ThomasLloyd Group plc and Principal of ThomasLloyd Capital LLC.

The report highlights that solar power generation is experiencing rapid growth in both, Europe and North America. Combined with a favourable political, economic and social climate, the industry is poised for continued growth over the short and medium term.

Credit Crunch: the difficulties experienced by small-to-medium sized solar developers in securing financing in the current credit environment is making it difficult for them to purchase solar components from the large, institutionalized solar manufacturers for their photovoltaic facilities.

Cottage Industry: the solar development segment of the value chain is a fragmented market consisting of a vast number of small local players. The fragmented nature of the solar developer segment coupled with the financing squeeze caused by the economic crisis is constraining the ability of these small developers from absorbing the volume of components produced by the large institutionalized solar manufacturers.

Bottleneck in Value Chain: savvy manufacturers are addressing this bottleneck in the solar value chain by assuming the development risk of building, operating and maintaining large-scale ground-mounted and roof-top systems. Those manufacturers who have a track record of proven project development are well positioned against their peers to secure and finance a pipeline of solar generating power projects.

Investor Opportunity: an interesting investment opportunity arises from this situation - the opportunity to invest in the development projects undertaken by the manufacturers. The investments will likely be on a project-by-project basis and offer the investor flexible legal structures that may be tailored to individual needs.