The Aligned Solar Partners 6 fund has placed more than 25 MW of distributed solar projects in service and acquired additional solar projects that are under construction or scheduled to begin over the next two years.
Aligned Climate Capital, an asset manager investing in clean energy companies and projects, announced the close of its largest distributed solar fund.
The Aligned Solar Partners 6 LP (ASP6) fund closed with commitments above the $200 million target fund size with participation from leading institutional investors in the U.S. and globally, including insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and family offices.
Aligned Climate Capital said the fund acquires construction-ready distributed solar projects from development partners across the Unites States. The company finances their build-out and delivers returns through tax credit monetization, operating income distributions and portfolio sales to institutional infrastructure investors.
ASP6 has placed more than 25 MW of distributed solar projects in service in Maine and Washington, D.C., and has acquired additional solar projects in other states that are under construction or scheduled to begin over the next two years. The majority of the fund’s capital is committed to these assets.
ASP6 is scheduled to make its initial cash distribution to investors in 2025 and plans to make annual cash distributions going forward.
Aligned Climate Capital said it has two primary investment strategies: the Aligned Climate Fund, which provides capital to venture-stage companies deploying and scaling established clean energy solutions, and Aligned Solar Partners (ASP), which owns and operates distributed solar, energy storage, and other clean energy projects.
ASP has been investing capital in solar projects in the “middle market” since 2018. Peter Davidson, Aligned’s CEO, told pv magazine USA that middle market solar includes community and commercial & industrial solar. “It’s not roof top and it’s not utility scale. To us, it’s the quiet workhorse of the clean energy transition because it’s big enough to have a meaningful impact but small enough to avoid all the red tape of permitting and utility scale.”
To date, the firm owns and operates more than 65 MWdc of projects across seven states.
It recently partnered on one of the nation’s largest rooftop community solar projects with Terreno Realty Corporation and Black Bear Energy, a business that assists large real estate owners and occupiers in procuring renewable energy solutions. The 6.1 MW solar project spans 700,000 square feet of rooftops, generating electricity for community solar subscribers in Washington D.C., while conserving land use in the urban area.
Another project (shown above) is located in the rural town of Bucksport, Maine. The 2 MWac / 3.3 MWdc solar installation delivers approximately 4,171,935 kWh of clean energy per year to the Central Maine Power grid. Both of these projects are in underserved and rural markets, which are target markets in Aligned Climate Capital investment strategy.
Aligned finances construction with a combination of equity and construction debt, then monetizes the tax credits and secures long-term, low-cost permanent debt. It has placed construction debt with Seminole Financial Services for this portfolio and prior ASP funds.
“This portfolio reflects the kind of thoughtful, well-structured projects Seminole looks to finance,” said Joe Ritter, principal of Seminole Financial Services “These are investments with strong fundamentals that also deliver meaningful impact in the communities they serve.”
Founded in 2018, Aligned reports that it currently manages approximately $2 billion of assets.
