After years of relative stability, oil prices have dramatically fallen. The end of the year 2014 and into the year 2015, in just a matter of six months oil literally collapsed below 50 $ a barrel.
Despite the fact that crude oil and solar energy are not direct substitutes, solar stocks are under performing drastically as a result. Oil companies are loosing profit and laying off as many as they can as fast as they can. With oil so cheap renewable energy is really not a concern for people. It has truly dropped off the radar.
So the question is why is renewable energy so dependent on the oil price? Is it possible to decouple oil price and solar development? What is to be expected for the coming future? Will oil prices skyrocket again?
Perhaps this is a business tactic, a way for Saudi Arabia to bring the price of oil so low they put most of the world out of business by killing most of their competitors. Then they double the oil price and make even bigger profits.