How to Create a Solar PPA

Today the US solar market is booming–67% growth in 2010, according to SEIAs 2010 Solar Market Trends Report–easily the fastest growing industry in the US. In the US Solar photovoltaic market, there are largely two main obstacles to growth. The first is stable long-term policy and the second is financing.

More and more HeatSpring alumni, students and prospective students have begun to ask more about financing, and while we understand financing from a very broad level, we wanted solar financing experts to discuss many aspects related to financing. If you’re interested in writing an article for our series on solar financing, please email me at support@heatspring.com. We are confident that an installer’s ability to understand the various ownership structures and tax equity options, as well as structure PPAs and SRECs, will make them better able to develop projects.

If you’re very interested in learning more about financing commercial solar projects, I have three resources for you

Learn how to Finance Commercial Solar PPAs from A to Z Sign up for our Solar Executive MBA
Take a free course from our expert solar finance instructors Mastering Commercial Solar Finance
Access 60 minutes of videos answering 8 questions about best practices for financing commercial solar power purchase agreements.

The purpose of the series is to help small and medium size solar installers who are in a specific situation. Each article is written to help a small installer who has only been doing cash projects but suddenly have a large commercial installation that could be completed if only they could help the client with financing.

Our first article is about the development of solar PPAs from Heather South, who works with One Globe Renewables in Colorado.

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The 4 Ownership Structures Used to Finance Solar Projects – Part 1

If you’re new to the solar industry, go to the Solar 101 Reading list. It has free tools and articles on solar design and installation, sales and marketing, policy, finance and best practices.
In the last post we discussed the 5 elements needed to finance any solar project. Often times, the last step in the process is creating a the legal structure that maximizes all of the financial benefits for investors, the project team, and the owners.

I have three great resources for you if you’re very serious about financing commercial projects

Read the List of Everything You Need to Understand to Finance Commercial Solar Projects
Download the 27 page Beginners Guide to Financing Commercial Solar Projects. 
Click here to sign up for our Solar MBA and Learn how to Finance Commercial Solar PPAs from A to Z. Click here to test drive the Solar MBA for free. 
Click here to join our Linkedin group “Best Practices for Financing Commercial PPAs Between 200kW and 5MW” and continue the conversation about best practices.
How to Finance Non-Profit Solar Projects – 50 Minute Session Answering 5  Key Questions
Listen to 60 Minute Interview: Advice from a $20MM Solar Tax Equity Investor to Commercial Solar Installers – Focus on a Niche, Be Fast, and Standardize your Operations
60 Minutes of Video Answer 7 Questions on Best Practices for Setting up Commercial Solar Power Purchase Agreements.

There are 4 ownership structures used for solar projects.

Owner Financed
The partnership flip
The sale-leaseback
The lease-passthrough

For this article, we’ll focus on the very basics of the partnership flip.

The partnership flip was created for developments in the wind industry and is now being applied to the solar industry. Read below for more details. If you have any questions or feel I left something out leave a comment in the post HeatSpring’s linkedin group: “Best Practices for Financing Commercial PPAs Between 200kW and 5MW”

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August 4th, 2011|Categories: Financing, Solar, Solar Design & Installation, Solar Finance|Tags: , , , |

5 Basic Elements You Need to Know to Finance any Solar Project

If you’re new to the solar industry, go to the Solar 101 Reading list. It has free tools and articles on solar design and installation, sales and marketing, policy, finance and best practices.
Second only to long term, clear and consistent policy, financing is the largest bottleneck that is facing the solar industry. For this reason, […]