Total corporate funding, including venture capital, public market activity, and debt financing for the solar sector, reached $22.3 billion in the first nine months (9M) of 2024, a 23% decrease from the $28.9 billion raised during the same period in 2023. The number of deals also dropped by 6% year-over-year, with 117 deals in 9M 2024 compared to 124 in the same period in 2023, according to the recently released report 9M and Q3 2024 Solar Funding and M&A Report by Mercom Capital Group. Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, said, “One of the main reasons why the industry is down right now is obviously interest rates and higher costs of capital, which we’ve been mentioning for the past year or so. These factors remain critical. A lot of trade barriers are coming up, and they’re unpredictable. Markets don’t know what policies are coming next. We see this in the U.S., India, and the EU, which is affecting supply chains and prices.”