Why (and How) the Solar Finance Market Is Changing in This Crisis
This is an excerpt from the Q2 2020 edition of The SOL SOURCE, a quarterly electronic newsletter analyzing the latest trends in renewable energy development and investment based on our unique position in the solar industry. To receive future editions of the journal, please subscribe. The ... Read More
A Compelling (and Complex) Opportunity: Creating Value as a Solar Developer in 2020
When we started Sol Systems around a dinner table in 2008, PV modules cost $3/watt – and that was a recent breakthrough. Those same modules now cost 30-40 cents/watt and they are significantly more efficient. As we noted last year, solar energy technology continues its path to global dominance. Read More
To Safe Harbor or Not to Safe Harbor
Whether tis nobler in the model to suffer / the cost and hassle of outrageous procurement expense… As the clock ticks into the third quarter of the year, solar energy developers are increasingly confronted with a question of Shakespearean proportions: in order to preserve 4 percent additional ... Read More
Tax equity structuring and the advantage of a tax-efficient sponsor
We in the United States, whether in the name of ideological principal or political necessity, have decided to incentivize renewable energy deployment through our tax code. This has produced a byzantine system of rules and regulations surrounding the financing of solar facilities. The result ... Read More
Assessing Solar’s 2018: Tariffs and Tax Reform? No Problem
For seven years and counting, The Sol SOURCE has covered the news surrounding the solar industry, utilizing our unique perspective into the worlds of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), project finance, tax equity, and policy. As we reach our twelfth publication of 2018, we look back at ... Read More
How Is Solar Preparing for the ITC Step-Down?
The federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), as established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, has been vital to the growth of solar. The 30% credit has fueled a 1,600% increase in solar installations since its inception. The tax credit remains at 30% of project cost until the end of 2019 before ... Read More
Tax Equity Forecast: Low Visibility, Thick Fog Expected to Continue
For companies still on the road to placing or finding tax equity in their capital stacks for 2018, you’ll need to turn on your fog lights. Even then, there are so many layers to the mist, it is not possible to see clearly if there is an oversupply or undersupply of tax equity for the ... Read More
Standing Out from the Wall of Money: Introducing Helios
Trends in solar finance come and go. We saw the YieldCo boom, followed by the YieldCo bust, followed by YieldCo sales (see: Terraform and Brookfield, 8point3 Energy Partners and Capital Dynamics, NRG Yield and Global Infrastructure Partners, all very recent news). We saw a shortage of tax ... Read More
Tax Equity in 2018: What to Watch For
This is an excerpt from the January 2018 edition of The SOL SOURCE, a monthly electronic newsletter analyzing the latest trends in renewable energy based on our unique position in the solar industry. To receive future editions of the journal, please subscribe. 2017 was a year of challenges ... Read More
A Look Back at 2017: Illinois, Tax Equity Investors, and a Shifting Federal Landscape
This is an excerpt from the December 2017 edition of The SOL SOURCE, a monthly electronic newsletter analyzing the latest trends in renewable energy based on our unique position in the solar financing space. To receive future editions of the journal, please subscribe. Since 2012, The Sol ... Read More