Clean Energy Finance Forum

Retail investment in clean energy is starting to flourish. Historically, investments in clean energy were only available to institutional investors. Recently, access has become available to retail investors through new investment vehicles such as solar bonds. On Nov. 18, Clean Edge presented a webinar exploring this topic. The event, “Clean Energy Retail Investing: The Rise of Bonds, REITs, Yield Cos, and other Investment Vehicles,” was co-hosted by SolarCity.

In the mountains of rural Peru, solar power organizations are finding footholds. Their experiences may illuminate the challenges of electrifying remote areas. The Clean Energy Solutions Center hosted a webinar on Nov. 18 in which solar organizations in rural Peru described their practices.

Hurricane Sandy was a stark reminder of the fragility of our electric grid. Clean Energy Group (CEG) has produced a series of papers and webinars looking at how a new generation of resilient power systems can help to address this problem. Its Nov. 20 webinar, “Financing Resilient Power,” scheduled to follow the publication of the paper “ Financing for Clean, Resilient Power Solutions ,” specifically focused on strategies for financing such systems.

Texas faces an unusual scenario when it seeks to advance property-assessed clean energy (PACE). The state has a tradition of seeking private-sector solutions and streamlining government activities. This means PACE methods adopted in other states – such as Connecticut – would not work in Texas. Also, Texas’s private sector is massive. The state’s businesses – and their environmental footprint – are growing rapidly. In a Nov. 18 webinar called “PACE in Texas 101,” Charlene Heydinger, executive director of Keeping PACE in Texas, said Texas uses 19 percent of the industrial energy consumed in the United States.

In an Iowa community with a large Amish and Mennonite population, Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC) has become a nationally recognized solar energy leader. FEC, one of the smallest utilities in the nation, is the subject of a case study by Solar Electric Power Association published in October.

How can programs motivate homeowners to make their homes energy-efficient before installing solar panels? And how can incentives support a whole-house retrofit approach that will optimize energy savings and prevent solar systems from being oversized? California, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Austin Energy have been grappling with this challenge for years. Their experiences show well-designed incentives may drive the joint adoption of solar power and energy efficiency. Simply introducing energy efficiency requirements into the solar installation process may not be successful without adding financial motivation.

How can alternative financing solutions help expand clean energy through capital markets? Industry experts convened at this year’s Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) East conference in Miami on Sept. 20-23 to discuss these possibilities. Yieldcos, crowdfunding or peer-to-peer (p2p) markets, and property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing could supplement the role of securitization and may deliver the capital the renewable energy industry demands.

To carry out a sizeable securitization of distributed generation assets, an investment-grade credit rating is necessary. But structural challenges unique to the solar asset class make this difficult to achieve. These structural challenges were the focus of a panel discussion at this year’s Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) East conference in Miami on Sept. 20-23.

Private-sector investment in clean energy continues to grow as costs come down and free-market dynamics begin to replace government subsidies. But this influx of financial capital is still not enough, according to speakers at “Creative Power: New Models for Growing Clean Energy Investment,” a discussion held at Bloomberg L.P. in Manhattan on Sept. 20 as part of New York Climate Week.

In regions of the developing world where electrical grids are weak or nonexistent, people often rely on kerosene. In a webinar on Sept. 16, staff from four pay-as-you-go solar companies described how they are building rural sales networks in Africa and India to replace kerosene lighting.