“Following a pattern in other places like California and the UK, this solar boom has brought crime along with it. But here the trend is turbocharged by more remote expanses and entrenched organized crime….”
Solar power as grid electricity has many strikes against it, which is why outsized government favor is required.
It is dilute, requiring large infrastructure to concentrate it into useful energy. It is intermittent, with cloudy days and nights working against it. It is dispersed, creating spawl that ecologists once condemned, and transmission costly. It is unsightly and a blight to neighbors, lowering property values. It is fragile, with hailstorms and hurricanes promising wreckage.
Add to these another downside: thieving. As told by Antonia Mufarech in “Solar Thieves” [Bloomberg’s Green Daily (May 7, 2026)]. The teaser: Today’s newsletter looks at the rising theft of solar panels, driven by a growing black market for the clean technology.
Mufarec’s example is in Chile. “Just before midnight, two men in white coveralls and black gloves scale an electric fence at a solar farm in Chile’s Atacama Desert,” he begins, “then slip soundlessly into rows of sleek panels.”
Others use a poultry shear and electric angle grinder to breach the main gate. Three pickups without license plates pull in so the gang can load up their loot and race away. The thieves typically have less than an hour before police arrive to disable cameras, slice cables and extract dozens of panels before vanishing into the dunes. In this case, there was only one security guard, who was instructed to hide in case of an intrusion. They tied him up anyway.
It is a country-wide problem.
Chile is witnessing a surge in theft on solar farms. Many in the industry privately confirm they’ve been hit, yet few are willing to say so publicly as the stolen equipment slips into black markets….
Following a pattern in other places like California and the UK, this solar boom has brought crime along with it. But here the trend is turbocharged by more remote expanses and entrenched organized crime, posing risks for Chile’s critical infrastructure, with potential consequences for grid reliability and foreign investment.
The damage caused by thieving is significant.
“The theft of cables, panels or electronic equipment can temporarily shut down entire solar parks and cause significant economic losses,” said Erwin Plett, chief executive officer of renewable energy advisory Low Carbon Chile SpA, adding that it also drives up security and insurance costs. “Chile remains one of the most attractive renewable markets in the region, but maintaining that leadership requires ensuring the security of energy infrastructure.”
The problem is growing.
Five years ago, panel theft was rare…. Since March last year, the manager’s portfolio recorded more than 30 thefts. In one case, a single site was hit five times in less than a month…. At first incidents were minor — one or two panels disappearing over an eight-month construction period. Losses have since evolved into coordinated raids, with trucks hauling away four or five boxes at a time, with each box holding at least 30 panels.