New Horizons In Solar Financing

How can companies in the solar power industry stay competitive as the typical offtake contract shrinks and as customers become more geographically distributed? Developers, installers and investors will choose carefully from the menu of traditional and more innovative financing options in an effort to grow and compete for the best opportunities.

Now that module costs appear to be bottoming out and margins on equipment, installation and development are becoming razor-thin, these sponsors are scrutinizing their capital and tax structures in an effort to hone any competitive edge they can find. Today, a much wider range of investors is willing to invest in solar energy-generating assets than even a few years ago, but, still, there are challenges to balancing risk profile and risk appetite. And certain classes of investors remain unfamiliar with solar assets, which means that there is still room for improvement in the cost of certain financial products.