Solar panels. It is believed that this is an evolving market, but while companies in the sector are profiting, the value of their cleaning companies is decreasing (Photo: ShutterStock)
The wave of solar energy companies entering the stock exchange also brought with it the shell companies in the field to ride the wave towards raising capital, such as solar panel cleaning companies, which raised hundreds of millions of shekels.
However, while solar energy companies are gaining investors' trust as a worthwhile future investment and continue to trade at double- and triple-digit multiples, investors are distancing themselves from solar panel cleaning companies.
Shares of the three Israeli solar panel cleaning companies traded on TASE have fallen about 89% on average since they began trading on TASE during the COVID-1 pandemic, and have lost NIS 6.2020 billion from their peak value relatively shortly after they began trading.
Most of the write-off was absorbed by Ecopia, which was the first of the three to make an initial public offering of its shares in Ahuzat Bayit and at the beginning of December 1 traded at a record value of NIS 4.110 billion. At the time of its examination (see table) two and a half years later, its value was already only about NIS 2021 million.
The company entered TASE as the leading company in the field of robots for cleaning solar panels and ended 5 with revenues of about USD 9.2022 million. However, in 4, its revenue declined to about USD 2.21 million, alongside a deepening of the total loss to NIS 4.13 million compared with a loss of NIS 1.2021 million in <>.
Shares of solar panel cleaning companies. Despite the assessment that this is a developing economy, the value is falling. Why is this happening? (Photo: Walla!, None)
The company noted in its reports that the coronavirus, which enabled it to ride the "green wave" of green energy on the stock exchanges, affects its results. For example, the company noted that "the restrictions imposed led to a certain delay in the completion of the construction of photovoltaic facilities in many countries around the world, which affected the company's ability to carry out the installation of robotic systems at customer sites as planned."
The company also noted that last November 10, its board of directors decided to approve a streamlining plan, which includes reducing employees.
The biggest loser from the drop in the share price is the Harel insurance company, which holds 15.48% of the company's shares, currently worth NIS 17 million, compared with a value of NIS 234 million when the share peaked in December 2020.
The stock that dropped the most of the three was Airtouch Solar, which has fallen about 95% since it began trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange until the date it was examined, and has lost about NIS 325 million in value. The replacement of the company's CEO, which took place in March 2022, also did not help.
The company's results, however, are trending opposite to that of the stock; The company's revenue for 2022 was NIS 15.7 million, representing an increase of about 54% compared to its revenues in 2021, and its total loss narrowed slightly to NIS 16.7 million compared with NIS 16.9 million in 2021.
Harel Insurance Company also has an interest in this company and holds about 7.41%, currently worth about NIS 1.3 million, and some of them were bought at a price of 1095 agorot in May 2021 and March 2022, with the share price currently standing at 48.1 agorot – a difference of 95.6%.
Does this mean that there is no place for robotic solar panel cleaning companies? Not. It is possible that this is a temporary "hiccup" until the price of metals and other components from which the robots are manufactured falls, and until the completion of solar projects currently being built and installed around the world.
The Ukraine war has pushed Europe and the United States towards green energy, of which solar energy is a part, and the robotic cleaning solution is one of the required in operating the giant fields that will be built. But their possible success is, of course, subject to surviving the difficult period.
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