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Mosaic Launches Crowd Funding Of Residential PV

Solar project crowd funding pioneer Mosaic is expanding its activities into the residential solar sector. The company has partnered with Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) and Sungage Financial to package loans made to homeowners for building photovoltaic power systems into investment opportunities through its online platform.

CEFIA has provided an initial $5 million commitment to fund originations of the consumer loans. Participating solar installers serving the Connecticut market will be able to offer the loans to their customers. The loan product, developed by Sungage Financial, uses projected energy savings as the basis for the offering.

Investments in the loan pool will be offered to accredited investors through Mosaic’s crowd-source investment website. The Hampshire Foundation Inc., which has committed $1 million of its own funds, will also offer investment opportunities to its clients as part of the program.

While the residential financing options are not yet built into the Mosaic online marketplace, the company says they will be very soon. Katie Ullmann, communications manager at Mosaic, says the development is a natural outgrowth from the individual commercial-scale projects that have been available.

“This deal is part of our expanding access to solar as an asset class,” Ullmann says. “If you look at our website, it can be hard to find available projects to invest in. We’ve been selling out projects in a week. The move to the home solar space expands opportunities for people to invest in solar.”

The company is still considering whether to enable investors to put their money into individual projects or into project bundles. In all likelihood, both options will be available, Ullmann says. Mosaic stresses that the investors can expect similar rates of return that they have seen from commercial projects.

For its part, CEFIA says it views the partnership as an opportunity to attract more investment into Connecticut, as a good in and of itself and as a means of promoting the development of solar power.

Bert Hunter, CEFIA’s chief investment officer, says his agency’s role in the partnership is to serve as a warehouse for the loans, funding transactions as they are qualified. At certain increments - say, $250,000 - the funding partners, Mosaic and Hampshire, take the loans over for packaging as investments.

“This replenishes our coffers and enables us to support additional loans,” Hunter says.

Mosaic says the residential solar marketplace is very different from the commercial project space the company has been serving. Performing due diligence on commercial projects is relatively straightforward, as there is generally a single site or multiple sites within a well-defined area. When a bundle of residential projects is offered as an investment opportunity, performing due diligence is much more challenging because it is generally not possible to make site visits for every single installation.

“Certainly there are some differences between commercial and residential diligence,” says Gregory Rosen, chief investment officer at Mosaic. “But performing due diligence on commercial projects is the same as residential diligence in many respects. Fundamentally, our goal is to make sure that the projects’ equipment and install specifications are consistent with prudent industry practices, and some visual confirmation that systems are built in accordance with the installation contracts.”

Rosen also points out that residential solar investment offerings will typically consist of multiple systems at multiple single-family home locations within a given state. This diversifies project risks in a beneficial way, he says, by distributing them geographically and pooling homeowner credit. - Michael Puttré

 

U.S. Solar Jobs Need Low-Cost Solar Panels

At a press event at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) in Washington, D.C., Andrea Luecke, president and executive director of The Solar Foundation (TSF), said the most important driver in the expansion of solar sector jobs in the U.S. has been the precipitous drop in the cost of solar power and the corresponding increase in installed capacity.

“Jobs are directly correlated with installations,” she said.

Luecke outlined her organization’s recent solar jobs census and unveiled state-specific reports for California, Arizona and Minnesota.

Amit Ronen, director of the GW Solar Institute, which contributed to the execution of the study, said much of the job growth can be attributed specifically to the steep decline in the cost of solar panels. Speaking at the EESI press event, Ronen reported the price of solar panels has declined 80% since 2008.

TSF recently released a nationwide survey of solar sector employment that showed job growth in 43 states, plus the District of Columbia. Though many of these workers are concentrated in western states, employment has grown at a rapid pace in central states - with 65% employment growth - and in those east of the Mississippi, which experienced 41% growth. Two states showed neither growth nor loss, and only five states shed workers, the report says.

Regional growth was uneven, Luecke says, and this can be attributed to differences in outlook for the near future.

According to the report, California is the No. 1 solar state, with one-third of all workers in the U.S. solar sector and with 40% of U.S. installed capacity. At the same time, respondents in California were anticipating a 22% growth rate in the state’s solar sector, compared with a 15.6% growth rate expected nationwide.

On the other hand, Arizona, the top solar state in terms of solar irradiance resources, actually lost 1,200 solar sector jobs last year. Luecke attributes this, in part, to the completion of the Solana concentrating solar power facility, as well as uncertainty in the market. Respondents in Arizona were anticipating only a 5.6% growth rate this year.

The census - based on over 75,000 phone calls and emails to solar sector employers - has determined that the industry grew at 10 times the national average last year, creating 24,000 new jobs. According to TSF, survey respondents cited declining equipment costs as the primary driver behind the industry’s growth and were optimistic about creating new jobs in 2014.

Since the start of the annual census in 2010, U.S. solar sector employment has increased 53% and now employs more than 142,000 people at about 18,000 locations. For the purposes of the census, TSF says solar workers must spend at least half of their time in the solar sector and include people in all parts of the supply chain - including those in nonprofit organizations. Nevertheless, Luecke points out that the 91% of the people classified as solar workers spend 100% of their time employed in the industry.

“These are high-paying, high-skilled, highly sought-after jobs,” she said. - Michael Puttré

 

Duke Issues RFP For
300 MW Of New Solar

Duke Energy has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 300 MW of new solar energy capacity in its Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress territories. The new capacity would be in service by the end of 2015.

The RFP says bidders may offer power and associated renewable energy certificates (RECs), and/or provide a “turnkey solution” in which Duke Energy takes ownership of a new facility. The utility says the RFP will help it diversify its energy mix and meet North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS).

The company’s RFP is targeting solar facilities greater than 5 MW. It is limited to projects that are in the company’s current transmission and distribution queue, as those have a realistic chance to be completed by the end of 2015. Duke Energy affiliates will not be allowed to participate in the RFP.

North Carolina’s REPS allows for renewable energy facilities connected to the Carolinas system to meet the state’s compliance obligations. As a result, facilities in South Carolina will be eligible to submit proposals for the power and associated RECs if they meet other criteria in the RFP.

 

New PV Demand
Restarts Capital Spending

According to a new report from NPD Solarbuzz, solar photovoltaic manufacturing equipment suppliers have rounded the bottom of the industry’s slump and are forecast to embark on an upturn in 2015. A rosy scenario sees capital spending in the solar manufacturing sector reaching $10 billion in 2017.

For 2013, PV equipment revenues spending from makers of crystalline silicon (c-Si) ingots, wafers, cells, modules and thin-film panels declined to an eight-year low of $1.73 billion, NPD Solarbuzz says - a precipitous drop from 2011’s heights of approximately $13 billion. PV equipment suppliers recorded less than $1 billion of net bookings last year, the report says, keeping the PV book-to-bill ratio well below parity. In the absence of new PV orders, many equipment suppliers were forced to restructure internal PV business units and focus on other technology sectors.

In the first half of this year, the report says, end-market solar PV demand will catch up with the 45 GW of effective manufacturing capacity within the industry. Thereafter, plans will quickly emerge from PV manufacturers for new capacity additions, NPD Solarbuzz says. The next major growth phase for PV equipment suppliers will be driven mainly by leading tier-one PV manufacturers across each stage of the PV value chain, the report forecasts.

 

SunEdison Plans $6.4B Fab In Saudi Arabia

SunEdison Inc. has signed an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabian government and the Saudi Arabian Investment Co. (Sanabil Investments) to jointly fund a feasibility study for the establishment of a solar photovoltaic manufacturing capability at Wa’ad Al Shammal in the kingdom.

SunEdison says the proposed polysilicon module production project would support the growth of the solar energy industry in Saudi Arabia, which the company views as a promising emerging market for PV power technology. SunEdison says the deal furthers its goal of developing downstream solar business capabilities. The cost of the project was estimated at $6.4 billion.

The production complex would incorporate SunEdison’s high-pressure silane fluidized bed reactor polysilicon, and continuous Czochralski crystal ingot technology and equipment to enable solar wafer, cell and module manufacturing. If the project proceeds as planned, production would begin in 2017 and eventually ramp up to an annual capacity of 3 GW.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals says it would provide the required quantities of natural gas for the complex, with the Saudi Electrical Co. providing the needed electricity.

 

Mainstream Sells Home PV Business To Sunrun

Mainstream Energy has separated its REC Solar commercial and residential operations, selling the latter to Sunrun. Continuing under the name REC Solar Commercial Corp., the company will focus solely on designing and building solar projects for businesses, municipalities, utilities and other customers of commercial-scale photovoltaic systems.

Mainstream Energy has also sold its AEE Solar distribution and SnapNrack solar mounting systems businesses to Sunrun. Paul Winnowski, CEO of Mainstream Solar, joins Sunrun as chief operating officer. Timothy Ball, chairman of Mainstream Energy, will join Sunrun’s board of directors.

On the Sunrun side, Lynn Jurich will lead the company as CEO, while co-founder Ed Fenster will continue in his operating role under the new title of chairman. Tom Holland assumes the role of president.

REC Solar has recruited Paul Detering as its new CEO. Prior to joining REC Solar, Detering was CEO of developer Tioga Energy.

 

Joint Venture To Develop $150M Of Solar Projects

RGS Energy, a provider of turnkey solar energy solutions for residential, commercial and utility customers, and Altus Power America Management, an investor in and manager of solar power projects, have formed a new joint venture: RGS Energy Asset Management LLC. The companies say the purpose of the JV is to develop, finance and manage up to $150 million of commercial solar projects.

RGS Energy adds that the joint venture is designed to bring the company into the arena of energy asset ownership and allow RGS to integrate credit qualification and capital sourcing into its core operations. The partners will jointly manage the available pool of capital.

The joint venture will offer power purchase agreements and other financial solutions to customers. The parties expect the first fully financed projects to be operational as early as the second quarter of this year.

 

CESA Develops Interactive REC Market Map

The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) has released an interactive map detailing where a renewable energy generator in a particular state or Canadian province can sell its renewable energy certificates (RECs).

The purpose of the map is to help show how a generator can meet the demand created by a renewable portfolio standard. The map reflects data from a report by Ed Holt & Associates that was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Foundation.

 

Vivint Solar Acquires Solmetric

California-based developer and installer Vivint Solar Inc. has closed its acquisition of Solmetric Corp. Solmetric specializes in test and measurement instruments for solar installation assessments and performance testing.

Under the terms of the deal, Solmetric will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivint. Willard MacDonald, Solmetric’s president and CEO, will join Vivint Solar as vice president of technology development.

 

South Africa Top
Emerging Solar Market

South Africa’s target of building 8.4 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity by 2030, combined with the success of its large-scale tendering process in attracting investment to fulfill that goal, positions the country as the most attractive emerging PV market globally, according to analysis by IHS Technology.

South Africa scored 66 out of 100 in the IHS Emerging PV Markets Attractiveness Index for the fourth quarter of 2013, 17 points ahead of the second-most attractive market, Thailand. Turkey rounds out the top three.

The index ranks the attractiveness of PV markets in emerging countries to investors, developers and manufacturers in macroeconomic climate, potential market size, project profitability and pipeline maturity. S