Analysts say greater involvement by big corporate brand names such as BMW, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike, Starbucks and Walmart will attract billions of dollars in capital for clean-energy development, create thousands of supply-chain jobs and stimulate rural economies where many large projects are located.

It will be a break-out year for a segment that has potential to consume massive amounts of renewable energy globally, as long as generators can continue to offer price-competitive supply options and reliable delivery where markets permit.