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Global Solar Energy Market and Female Entrepreneurship after the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic presents multiple challenges for sustainable development, particularly for female entrepreneurship in the renewable segment. Solar energy is the most prospective segment of renewable energy resources. The share of global female inventors in energy technologies is less than 30%. This article is devoted to prospects of the development of female entrepreneurship in the solar energy market. We analyzed the global impact of the pandemic on the solar energy markets, and assessed the prospects for their development in the post-pandemic period. We used data from leading international analytical agencies, such as IAE and Bloomberg for 2000-2020. We also used results of international case study analyses of the International Energy Agency from 2019 on female entrepreneurship in solar energy. In addition, we investigated the Russian-French case study of female entrepreneurship in the solar energy segment. Based on the results of the analysis, we concluded that the solar energy sector will continue to develop in the future. According to the research results, negative pandemic trends, such as the reduction in the number of commissioned projects and investments in the solar power industry persist in the short term. So far, the pandemic has not had a significant negative impact on the strategic and long-term period, and female entrepreneurship will 1 Corresponding author, e-mail: shpak17121978@gmail.com 2 E-mail: mnevalennyi@yandex.ru continue to evolve. We argue that it is important to minimize financial barriers currently existing in special funding and grant programs for supporting this trend and increasing the number of women in solar energy entrepreneurship. It is crucial to focus future financial programs for female entrepreneurs in the solar energy sector on rural regions as they are more prospective in terms of solar energy development. In addition, a range of educational programs in soft skills should be developed to strengthen engineering specialists’ background in business and negotiations. The research results can be used in future research in the field of sustainable development, renewables, and female employment in the renewable and solar energy sector.