How Does a Solar Project Dealmaker Spend His Time? “Solar Project Dealmaker” is the best way to describe Chris Lord. He’s a lawyer, financial modeler, and builder of project teams. Hearing about his work helps you understand how big solar projects happen. Below you’ll hear about a few projects… Continue reading “How Does a Solar Project Dealmaker Spend His Time?”
Where are the Best Opportunities for Solar + Storage? We’re excited to announce a new free class, developed in partnership with Energy Toolbase: “Optimizing the Economics of C&I Solar + Storage Projects in California“. It’s worth paying attention because the presentation is packed with useful data you won’t find… Continue reading “Where are the Best Opportunities for Solar + Storage?”
Understanding Solar Project Finance Risks In an ideal world, solar developers would find an appropriate site for solar, the local utility would offer low interconnection costs, the investor would receive a reasonable financial return and the surrounding community would welcome the project. This would make… Continue reading “Understanding Solar Project Finance Risks”
Developing Your Solar Project: Research, Permits & Market Opportunities Chris Lord and Keith Cronin discuss property records, attractive solar markets and permitting processes on the Solar Executive MBA Training discussion board. Takeaways: It’s often helpful to work with a county clerk when determining which property records you’ll need Solar market… Continue reading “Developing Your Solar Project: Research, Permits & Market Opportunities”
Access the Tools, Network & Knowledge You Need to Advance Your Solar Career Here are the powerhouse solar courses you don’t want to miss: Megawatt Design – Master large-scale solar project design, learn how to get your projects permitted and installed faster and cheaper. Access valuable tools and resources, while advancing your career and the… Continue reading “Access the Tools, Network & Knowledge You Need to Advance Your Solar Career”
PPA Deal with 3 Investors: Questions to Ask to Model and Structure the PPA When you’re working on a PPA deal with multiple investors you need to know each investor’s end goal and then structure the PPA accordingly. Do you need to consider a Partnership Flip or the Unstructured model returns? Here’s a discussion from our… Continue reading “PPA Deal with 3 Investors: Questions to Ask to Model and Structure the PPA”
The Best Way to Sell Solar, According to a Nobel Prize Winning Economist “So Myron, have you installed solar panels on your house?” I asked. The answer was no: “I have these magnificent redwood trees, so that gives me trouble”… THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON BLOG.AURORASOLAR.COM ON 9/3/2016 …Indeed, we performed a shading analysis… Continue reading “The Best Way to Sell Solar, According to a Nobel Prize Winning Economist”
The SunEdison Collapse & Today’s Solar Market It’s ugly out there. The folding of SunEdison has been a disaster for the industry. With the recent SolarCity announcement of Elon and the Rive Brothers using their cashed-in stock options to create a short term bond, what does this mean for an… Continue reading “The SunEdison Collapse & Today’s Solar Market”
Volta: A Start-Up Company Powering West Africa As the solar and clean energy industry grows, it’s no surprise that the target market for renewable energy technologies is now expanding to include developing communities and countries. In fact, a host of new start-ups and innovative business models are… Continue reading “Volta: A Start-Up Company Powering West Africa”
Microgrids: Creation, Implementation and Finance/Policy Concerns HeatSpring is proud to announce our newest microgrid course: Microgrid Design & Implementation Microgrids are the future of energy production and distribution, but very few people understand how to create a successful microgrid. In this course, microgrid expert Dr. Andrew Skumanich… Continue reading “Microgrids: Creation, Implementation and Finance/Policy Concerns”
Solar MBA: Contract Financing Language, Site/Land Leases and MOU’s Chris Lord and Keith Cronin tackle student questions on the Solar Executive MBA Discussion board… Power Purchase Agreement Financing Language Student 1: I have a follow up question about Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) financing. You indicated agreements with penalties for failure… Continue reading “Solar MBA: Contract Financing Language, Site/Land Leases and MOU’s”
Bring Your Sol to Work: Finding Career Opportunities in the Solar Industry In a recent conversation with a young woman, I had an epiphany about why working in solar is good for the soul. She had just returned from volunteering in Greece to help Syrian refugees receive care and assistance upon entry… Continue reading “Bring Your Sol to Work: Finding Career Opportunities in the Solar Industry”
Economic Modeling Basics for A Solar Project Happening on the Solar Executive MBA Discussion Board… ___________________________________ Construction Debt/Loans, SRECs & Purchasing vs. Leasing a Site Student 1: 1. What is the difference between project debt and the construction loan? 2. What is SREC and Single SREC? 3. If the… Continue reading “Economic Modeling Basics for A Solar Project”
Why SunEdison’s Stock Dropped 50% in 3 Weeks and How You Can Avoid This in Your Own Solar Development SunEdison has climbed up the ladder to become the world’s largest renewable energy service provider, but it has come at a cost. Many people believe that they’re on a trajectory similar to the traditional energy service providers, like Duke Energy,… Continue reading “Why SunEdison’s Stock Dropped 50% in 3 Weeks and How You Can Avoid This in Your Own Solar Development”
Solar Women Summer Series: Reaching a Majority Female Office Sarah Gaddis and Jodi White work at BayWa r.e. Solar Systems, a Solar PV organization dedicated to supporting local, independent installers by offering only a select group of top-quality products. Sarah and Jodi spoke with us about their roles at BayWa r.e., their… Continue reading “Solar Women Summer Series: Reaching a Majority Female Office”
The Solar Developer’s Modeling Challenge: How Much Detail Is Enough? In the article below, Chris Lord, HeatSpring’s expert instructor, outlines when and why detail in modeling cash flows from a renewable energy project really matters. Key Takeaways: Modeling forces us to confront the troubling “unknowns” about our project, and that… Continue reading “The Solar Developer’s Modeling Challenge: How Much Detail Is Enough?”
4 Reasons Commissioning on Larger Solar PV Systems is Important The article below is an excerpt from the discussion board of our last Solar Executive MBA cohort. Student A and Student B are interested in learning more about: The importance of commissioning on larger solar systems The potential volatility of SRECs… Continue reading “4 Reasons Commissioning on Larger Solar PV Systems is Important”
Interview: Financial Models and Sample Documents for Commercial Solar Projects I recently spoke with Chris Lord and Keith Cronin about some of the financial modeling tools and sample documents that they frequently use to teach solar professionals working on commercial projects. Chris and Keith, who co-teach our Solar Executive MBA… Continue reading “Interview: Financial Models and Sample Documents for Commercial Solar Projects”
Step-by-Step Guide on How to Sell Your Commercial Solar Projects to Investors In this video, Noel Lafayette from SHR Energy discusses in step-by-step detail what a commercial solar developer needs do to sell a project to a solar fund. If you’re curious, I interviewed Noel in the beginning of 2014. The article… Continue reading “Step-by-Step Guide on How to Sell Your Commercial Solar Projects to Investors”
How Commercial Real Estate Owners Deal with Solar PPA Pricing Risk In the 10-minute video above, Darien Crimmin, VP of Energy and Sustainability for WinnDevelopment, describes how he looks at the pricing risk of signing solar PPAs from the perspective of a large property owner. WinnDevelopment has a $2.5 billion real-estate… Continue reading “How Commercial Real Estate Owners Deal with Solar PPA Pricing Risk”