The Role of public interventions in inducing private climate finance: An empirical analysis of the solar energy sector

Abstract

This paper analyses the factors explaining the recent boost in solar energy private investments, focusing on the role of public finance and public policy tools - feed-in-tariffs and renewable energy quotas. Drawing on a micro-level database of financial transactions in solar energy projects in 23 OECD countries over the period 2004–2015, we perform a panel data analysis to study the relationship between public finance and public policies and private investments in solar energy, controlling for composition of the energy industry and market characteristics by country. We find that the provision of public finance is positively associated with private finance flows. Furthermore, we show that public policy stimulates private investments, but the effect of renewable energy quotas on private finance is larger than that of feed-in tariffs. Finally, the availability of fossil fuels constitutes an important barrier to solar energy investments, while the presence of alternative sources of clean energy does not hinder private climate finance.