Despite its rapid growth, the US solar market is still a bit of a Balkanized mess. It’s a highly fragmented collection of states with different policies and politics, some that have preferential programs such as Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or net energy metering (NEM), and others that are resistant to change or beholden to incumbent… Keep reading →
“When I consider this checklist, we’re pretty close.” The U.S. solar industry has come a long way in a very short timeframe. After decades of slow but steady growth, the last 2.5 years have brought an explosion of new installations in America — with two-thirds of all total distributed solar installed since just 2011. By… Keep reading →
By transferring a portion of a commercial building’s electricity expenses to its property tax bill, Demeter Power is paving the way for an expansion of distributed solar generation in small- to medium-sized commercial buildings. Demeter Power, a provider of financing solutions for commercial distributed generation, has been awarded $500,000 through the Department of Energy’s SunShot… Keep reading →
The energy finance community has been eagerly anticipating the introduction of solar asset-backed securities – “solar securitization,” – for at least three years, and may be waiting for another year or more. But sooner or later, securitization is coming to solar finance, and when it does, it will have a profound impact on the pace… Keep reading →
Various products have hit the market to try to overcome a major hurdle to solar financing and securitization – a lack of standardized metrics to provide a measuring stick against which financial institutions can quickly and easily assess solar projects. These include Mercatus’ solar project scoring system and Sol Systems’ SolMarket. Both of these seek… Keep reading →
One of the biggest obstacles to connecting solar project developers with the investors that could provide them with financing comes down to communication, according to Haresh Patel, Chief Executive of Mercatus, which provides origination and syndication services for energy investors. The company has scored some big clients offering software that gives banks and other funding sources… Keep reading →
Over the last few months we’ve had investors and other participants in the renewable sector and specifically the solar sector inquire about the prospects for the sector and securitization.
This article attempts to address some of the key issues and challenges for the sector that investors have inquired addressed. Keep reading →
