Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. may face challenges after its energy unit announced that it will finance renewable projects, Standard & Poor’s said.

“The solar industry, amid falling panel prices, sluggish power consumption, and company consolidations, is cheering the announcement as evidence that solar-generation technology is attracting capital from mainstream energy players,” Anne Selting, a credit analyst for S&P, said in a statement today.

The MidAmerican Energy Holding Co. unit of Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire “has built its reputation on acquiring stable, regulated integrated electric and gas utilities,” she said. MidAmerican established a new business to aid investments in unregulated renewable generation, including wind, geothermal, solar and hydroelectric projects, the company said in a Jan. 24 statement.

--Editors: Peter Eichenbaum, Dan Reichl

To contact the reporter on this story: Noah Buhayar in New York at nbuhayar@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net