Noel Lafayette, the principle of SHR Energy Management, was a featured presenter on November 20, 2014, at an event for experienced solar professionals. The event was held at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center in Boston. Here each presenter focused on financing commercial solar projects.
The event was called “Going Beyond ‘It Depends’ – Trends in Financing Mid-Market Commercial Solar Projects.”
Experienced solar professionals were able to provide a deeper understanding of the issues they face while financing solar projects. Specifically, solar professionals instilled insight surrounding financing rarely found in the trade press or large conferences. In these large events, when folks ask questions about financing projects, most often the answer is “It depends.” However, this event was designed to be interactive and conversational for a smaller audience. Consequently, it granted access to experts that informed them on variables impacting the terms of a commercial solar deal.
Mr. Lafayette’s comments were from the project investor perspective. He discussed:
- Power-buyer Creditworthiness. As the solar industry grows it moves towards commercial solar clients. These potential clients are not investment-grade energy customers. His discussion focused on what developers need to know about analyzing credit-worthiness.
- Wall Street Capital. More Wall Street capital is moving into solar, but they are new. Lafayette spoke about how this is impacting the due diligence process. Also, what you need to understand if you are going to work with a new fund.
- Due Diligence Process. Lafayette presented a “Due Diligence Checklist.” Additionally, he walked through the checklist for a project investor while inviting questions at all stages.