A steep decline in solar panel prices is helping solar installers attract new capital, a trend likely to trigger consolidation in the fragmented industry and drive down the cost of putting the renewable energy system on rooftops. 

Panel makers such as Suntech Power Holding, SunPower Corp and Yingli Green Energy suffered from a glut of supplies that pushed prices for solar panels down 50 percent last year, sending their share prices crashing.

 

But those cheaper panels meant lower costs for the installers who buy them, such as SolarCity, the market leader in residential and commercial installations, which is expected to seek an initial public offering this year that could value the company at about $1.5 billion.