Solar funding reaches $16.9b amidst policy and trade uncertainties

Debt financing reached $13.2b across 44 deals.

Global solar companies raised $16.9b in corporate funding in the first half (H1) of 2026, up 56% year on year (YoY) from $10.8b a year earlier, with debt financing remaining the primary source of capital.

Mercom Capital Group said corporate funding—consisting of venture capital and private equity (VC), public market, and debt financing—totalled $16.9b across 96 deals in H1 2026, compared with $10.8b across 78 deals in the same period last year.

Solar project acquisitions also increased during the period, with 134 transactions covering 25.2 gigawatts (GW), up from 106 project acquisitions totalling 19.9GW in H1 2025. Deal activity rose 26% YoY, whilst acquired megawatts (MW) increased 27%.

“Solar financing and acquisition activity remained strong in the first half of 2026 as developers accelerated project execution ahead of the construction-start deadline to preserve tax credit eligibility,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO at Mercom Capital Group.

Prabhu said debt financing remained the primary source of funding, whilst acquisitions increasingly centred on development-stage projects with the potential to progress to construction and bolster project pipelines.

He added that, despite policy and trade uncertainty, investors and lenders continued to back companies with strong fundamentals, project pipelines, and execution strategies.

Debt financing reached $13.2b across 44 deals in H1 2026, up 69% YoY from $7.8b raised through 41 deals in the same period last year.

Public market financing totalled $2.2b across 17 deals, compared with $467m raised through five deals in H1 2025.

VC funding fell 40% YoY to $1.5b in H1 2026 from $2.5b in the same period last year, although the number of deals increased to 35 from 32.

In the second quarter (Q2), VC funding declined 60% YoY to $445m across 18 deals, compared with $1.1b raised through 18 deals a year earlier.

Solar downstream companies led VC funding activity with 22 deals worth $884m. A total of 135 VC investors participated in solar funding during the period.

The largest VC transactions included $343m raised by Inox Clean Energy, $180m by Nexamp, $165m by Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions, $150m by Amarenco, and $118m by GREW Solar.

Securitisation activity totalled $540m across three deals, down 66% YoY from $1.6b raised through four deals in H1 2025.

Solar corporate M&A activity increased to 57 transactions in H1 2026 from 50 a year earlier.

The largest transaction was INOX Solar Americas' agreement to acquire 100% of the assets of Boviet Solar Technology's US subsidiary, Boviet Solar Technology (North Carolina), for about $750m.

Project developers and independent power producers were the most active buyers of solar projects in Q2, acquiring 4.4GW.

Investment firms acquired 2.2GW, whilst energy suppliers, engineering, and construction companies acquired 180MW. Utilities acquired two projects totalling 54MW.