Plummeting oil prices will have little effect on global renewable energy markets, analysts from Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank told Bloomberg earlier this week.
“I don’t want to be dismissive of the impact of declining oil and gas commodity prices on renewable energy,” said Stuart Bernstein, Goldman’s global head of clean technology and renewables. “But they will have a very small impact on the long-term cost of electricity.”
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Deutsche Bank renewable energy analyst Vishal Shah said solar stocks have been dragged down by the oil crash, but that could translate into a buying opportunity for investors.
“There is little connection between solar panels, which make electricity, and crude that’s processed mostly into transportation fuel,” Goossens and Martin write. “Panel makers and rooftop installers expect strong demand this year, especially in China, the U.S., and Japan, the biggest markets.”
In China, market analyst Doug Young says some solar stocks are approaching all-time lows on concerns that the oil price shock will bring down demand. “I honestly don’t understand the reasons for this sudden plunge,” he writes, and “some of these shares…seem quite undervalued right now.”
