Funding for solar manufacturing, project development, and more continues to roll in, as evidenced by three hundred-million-plus deals struck this week.
Investor interest in solar energy in the United States is thriving. While higher borrowing costs have challenged the industry’s growth in recent years, the trend is clear: solar is growing.
This is evidenced by the steady flow of financing transactions in recent months. Just this week, three deals exceeding $100 million were closed. The deals included funding for manufacturing, residential solar loans, and community solar project portfolio development.
Silfab Solar
Solar manufacturer Silfab Solar announced it closed $100 million to scale a solar cell manufacturing plant in South Carolina.
The deal included a $50 million equity investment from ARC Financial Corp and other existing co-investors. An additional $50 million was secured via a “Green Loan” led by Breakwall Capital and SR Alternative Credit.
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP acted as legal counsel to Silfab. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Breakwall Capital. Stikeman Elliott LLP acted as legal counsel to ARC Financial. RCT Solutions acted as the independent engineer for Breakwall.
“Silfab’s growing US footprint and increase in domestic content means more jobs for Americans and a lower carbon footprint compared to imported panels,” said Paolo Maccario, president and chief executive officer, Silfab.
EnFin by Qcells
Solar panel manufacturer Qcells operates a residential solar financing platform called EnFin. The company recently completed its asset-backed securities transaction totaling $324.5 million.
The transaction comprises bonds backed by thousands of consumer loans used to finance residential solar and battery storage installations. RBC Capital Markets, who led the transaction, acted as the sole structuring advisor and joint bookrunner, with Santander serving as a joint bookrunner and Societe Generale co-managing the deal.
“As the only financing platform in the market backed by a major manufacturer, EnFin can offer its homeowner customers reliable, competitive financing for Qcells’ high-quality equipment,” said Alex Kaplan, president and chief executive officer of EnFin.
EnFin launched in January 2023 and has since accumulated 22,000 consumer loan contracts with a principal balance of more than $1 billion. Loans under the EnFin program are made through a partnership with Hatch Bank.
Pivot Energy
Distributed energy developer Pivot Energy secured a $450 million debt warehouse facility, one of the largest ever for distributed solar, backed by three major investors.
The investment was led by First Citizens Bank and included Atlas SP. The financing agreement also includes preferred equity investment from HASI in a new project joint venture.
Together, the financing structures are expected to support 300 MW of solar capacity across 96 community-scale projects.
“Pivot is redefining how to finance portfolios of distributed generation solar projects at scale which reflects our mission to advance the renewable energy transition,” said Bret Labadie, chief financial officer, Pivot Energy.
