High oil prices should trigger a rush to renewable energy, but the industry is being hampered by the Iran war too, with Gulf supplies of critical inputs on hold or much reduced.Many byproducts of the oil and gas industry are essential for making solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, including plastics like ethylene and polypropylene, and sulfuric acid (used to process copper), S&P Global noted.

Helium, another gas byproduct, is used to make the semiconductors in green energy systems. In normal times, Qatar produces a third of the world’s helium but has shuttered its gas industry. Aluminum supply chains have also been hit, following Iranian strikes onsmelters in Bahrain and the UAE, pushing the price of the metal to a four-year high and testing panel and turbine makers who rely on it.The cost of materials for printed circuit boards used extensively by the renewable energy industry has also increased.

Despite all this, oil price volatility makes the energy security that renewables can offer all the more alluring. The conflict could prove to be a net positive for solar, analysts told S&P.