Hard Times for Alternative Energy

"As far as investors are concerned, the sun has set on solar power, one of the hottest growth industries of the past decade.

Solar energy isn't alone in its woes. Wind, biomass, biofuel and other 'clean-tech' companies are getting pasted too as the financial crisis sends investors fleeing from technology names, dries up credit and freezes the IPO market. The moribund equity markets are especially bad news for the green-energy players, who depend on a steady stream of equity from growth-obsessed investors to keep moving.

The price collapse has been so brutal that industry and corporate finance executives predict a shake-out as some of the weaker clean-tech companies burn through precious cash."