ReneSola Ltd SOL recently signed an acquisition deal worth $8 million, which involves takeover of certain assets from an undisclosed U.S.-based developer. The transaction, which includes acquisition of solar projects and accounts receivable, will also bring in an experienced team of solar project developers under ReneSola’s management.

As a result of this agreement, ReneSola will have access to utility projects and development activities in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, California, New York, Maine, Illinois and Arizona.

ReneSola’s Benefits from the Deal

ReneSola will be able to expand the scale of its solar energy development platform through this deal by leveraging its global reach and experience combined with the new team’s solid track record in the United States. This, in turn, will boost its profit through monetization of projects.

Moreover, the new team is expert in the development of U.S. distributed generation (DG) and small-scale utility projects with battery storage. Therefore, the aforementioned buyout is expected to enhance ReneSola’s footprint in the small-scale utility market.

It is imperative to mention in this context that ReneSola boasts significant experience and success in developing small-scale utility projects, especially DG and community projects. The company possesses an excellent track record. Since 2012, it has completed over 800 megawatts (MW) of small-scale projects. Of this, the company has monetized nearly 600 megawatts, as of Mar 31, 2020, while 216 MW are still in operation.

Considering this and the fact that post completion of the acquisition, the transaction will increase Renesola’s development pipeline by approximately 200 MW, we expect the deal to add further impetus to its growth.

Global Solar Boom: ReneSola & Others

While the United States remains a lucrative market for solar players’ expansion, the global solar market as a whole has been rallying over the past decade. Per a report by Fortune Business Insights, the global solar power market size is projected to reach 4766.8 MW in 2026 from 2019, exhibiting a CAGR of 30.7%.

To reap the benefits of this expanding global solar market, ReneSola and other solar players are making every possible effort, which is expected to boost profits.

During 2019, ReneSola connected about 60 MW of projects. It expects project pipeline in core markets to reach 1 GW by the end of 2020.

First Solar FSLR ended 2019 with net bookings of 6.1 gigawatts and current contracted backlog of 12.4 gigawatts. Given the growing demand for solar modules, First Solar expects to increase its nameplate Series 6 manufacturing capacity to 6 GW by 2020 and 8 GW by year-end 2021.

In 2019, JinkoSolar JKS reported record high solar module shipment of 14.3 GW. For 2020, it projects total solar module shipments of 18-20 GW, indicating an improvement of 35% year over year.

At the end of first-quarter 2020, Canadian Solar’s CSIQ utility-scale solar power plants in operation totaled 956 MWp, with an estimated resale value of $830 million. The company ended the first quarter with total project pipeline of 12 GWp. This reflects solid prospects for this stock through monetization of global solar project assets.

Price Performance & Zacks Rank

In a year’s time, shares of ReneSola have surged 158.5% compared with the industry’s rise of 92.9%.

ReneSola has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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