In the last few weeks solar stocks are suffering more than the general stock market. A lot more. Financial watchers blame it on photovoltaic’s success. In the past few years, solar electric companies have invested in making their silicon wafers (the basic substrate of rooftop panels) more efficient. They’ve invested in new manufacturing plants to produce panels for homes and businesses under California’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative. At the same time, large central station solar project developers have entered numerous contracts with California utilities to build plants in the desert to supply major volumes of power. However, in the last few weeks, Wall Street has taken a rather draconian view of the expanding industry. Think what you want about Goldman Sachs, but early this week the investment company stated: “The risk of oversupply in the solar market will soon become a reality as considerably less generous demand subsidies take hold just as a wave of supply and tight financing hit the market. We believe that liberal subsidies of the past in markets like Germany and Spain are unlikely to be replicated in the future given fears of their ultimate cost in a bad world economy.” Problems in the capital markets are affecting solar manufacturing companies, just like other manufacturers, according to David Lee, BioSolar chief executive officer. “Not just solar manufacturing, but any manufacturer needs capital,” noted Lee as credit markets remained hampered and share prices continued downward. “The industries are scared, but reason will prevail.” Californians in general want to see solar rooftops succeed. It prevents fossil-fueled generation, and it prevents to some extent building new transmission lines. That is, with rooftop solar, the electricity is where the consumer needs it. With distant generation, transmission lines have to be built to get the renewable electricity from where it’s made to where it’s used. Solar companies have contracts with the state’s major investor-owned utilities to provide for their mandated renewables portfolio standard. The state requires that at least 20 percent of electricity provided by utilities be generated from renewable resources like solar and wind by 2010. Solar companies were counting on the $700 billion federal bailout to lift their stocks and free up credit markets so they can continue to operate. Instead, the days after the bailout proved even worse for solar investors and thus, solar corporations. Investor-owned utilities already admit they won’t meet the 20 percent renewable mandate by 2010. Although solar companies have seemingly ironclad contracts with utilities--in which ratepayers are the collateral--the market is undercutting the sun.