The business of putting solar panels on homes is being severely damaged by the coronavirus crisis, especially in states that are requiring residents to shelter in place and solar workers to stay away.
Customers are canceling contracts, permitting has slowed as local agencies have gone remote, and sales have ground to a halt as in-person visits become taboo, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade group. Layoffs are also spreading.
SEIA has been highlighting these plights to Congress in a bid to get relief for solar companies as an enormous aid package comes together.
Other parts of the solar industry, like manufacturing and bigger projects for businesses and utilities, are facing their own problems. Those include snarls at international ports of entry, broken contracts and financing drying up.
The coronavirus-induced slowdown is sowing a great deal of anxiety among solar companies, according to a SEIA survey of almost 300 industry players whose results were shared with E&E News.
Read full article at E&E News.