EmPower Solar & Renova Energy secure SunPower investment; Qcells’s new residential storage offering for US; Terra-Gen achieves financial closure for solar+storage facility; $400 million for Fundamental Renewables; 8minute is now Avantus; Goldman Sachs and Cleanhill Partners invest in EPC Power.
SunPower invests in 2 solar dealers: SunPower Corporation has made minority investments in EmPower Solar and Renova Energy, adding these to its Dealer Accelerator Program. Through this program, SunPower provides capital financing and business strategy support to high-potential solar dealers to meet increasing homeowner demand for solar in the US. Dealers in the program exclusively sell SunPower solar systems and SunVault battery storage and provide SunPower Financial offerings for solar financing.
New storage solution from Qcells: Qcells has launched Q.HOME CORE as its next generation residential energy storage system for the US market. It integrates the company’s Q.VOLT solar inverter with Q.SAVE modular, scalable battery system and Q.HOME hub backup interface. The company is providing 10-year product warranty on all components. It pairs with Qcells modules for a fully suite of complete energy solution for a US home, it stated. “The Q.HOME CORE addition to our growing suite of complete energy solutions provides homeowners with greater control over their energy use through a flexible, scalable battery system and inclusive warranty, all backed by one brand,” said Qcells North America President David Shin.
Terra-Gen raises $959 million credit for solar project: Independent renewable energy provider Terra-Gen, LLC has achieved financial closure for phase II of its Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage facility in Kern County of California. The $959 million senior secured credit facilities comprise $460 million construction and term loan facility, $403 million tax equity bridge, and $96 million construction and revolving letter of credit facility. Phase II of the project comprises 410 MW AC nameplate solar capacity and 1,786 MWh of battery storage, with completion expected in Q3/2023. Phase I was financed a year back in July 2021 and is operational with 345 MW PV with 1,505 MWh of storage. The project is located on land leased from Edwards Air Force Base and adjacent private land. It is being equipped with solar modules from First Solar and Mortenson providing EPC services. Further phases of this project will include more than 2 GW of incremental solar and storage capacity that the company is currently advancing. On completion, Terra-Gen expects the Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage franchise to be the world’s ‘largest’ integrated solar powered battery storage project.
Fundamental Renewables gets credit facility: Renewable energy financier Fundamental Renewables has secured a $400 million credit facility with Delaware Life Insurance Company as its lead lender. Other lenders include CDPQ American Fixed Income and East West Bank. The company gets additional resources to support long term growth and invest in premier renewable and clean energy assets with flexible financing solutions to clean energy developers.
8minute Solar Energy changes name: 8minute Solar Energy has changed its name to Avantus to reflect its expanded focus to beyond solar energy to an ecosystem of clean energy products and services. The EIG backed company said it will continue to execute on its core development platform bringing one of the largest clean energy development pipelines in the country to life, while deploying the company’s proprietary power plant technologies and digitally connected delivery systems at the gigawatt scale.
EPC Power gets Goldman Sachs as investor: Utility scale solar inverter supplier EPC Power Corp has secured Sustainable Investing business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Cleanhill Partners as its majority stakeholders through their Sustainable Investing business. It will enable the company that calls itself as the only US based end-to-end power conversion solution provider, to expand in renewable energy storage markets. It also sees the passing of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) that extends a 1st ever tax credit to standalone energy storage as creating a significant financial incentive to adopt the company’s inverters and other technologies.
