NREL Assembles Industry Working Group to Advance Solar Securitization Webinar focusing on SAPC to be held on March 22

News Release:

NREL Assembles Industry Working Group to Advance Solar Securitization

Webinar focusing on SAPC to be held on March 22

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)'s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently convened the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group with a mission to enable securitization of solar PV assets and associated cash flows in the marketplace.

SAPC's primary efforts center on the standardization of power purchase agreements, leases, and other documents relevant to residential and commercial deployment, and the development of robust datasets to assess performance and credit-default risk. These activities are designed to allow projects to be grouped into tradable securities. Securitization is expected to attract additional investors to the solar asset class, enabling the industry to tap a larger and more liquid pool of capital than currently available. The working group includes over 60 members representing some of the leading organizations in the fields of solar deployment, finance, counsel, and analysis.

"It's exciting to see the industry come together to build the foundation to a securitized market," says NREL Senior Financial Analyst Michael Mendelsohn. "Access to low-cost public capital offers the potential to significantly lower the cost of solar energy."

SAPC will also provide a forum for some of the leading voices in the industry to discuss the range of barriers, risks, opportunities, and best practices in the creation of a solar securities market. Public capital vehicles can take various forms including asset-backed securities, master-limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts, or various debt products. The NREL-led effort is funded under the DOE's Sunshot Initiative.

On March 22, at 10 a.m. MT, SolarTech and NREL are cosponsoring a Webinar, "Can Finance Be Easier." The webinar will kick off with an SAPC Project overview by Mendelsohn. Then he will be joined by a panel of solar industry leaders in a round-table discussion of solar financing including: Moderator, David McFeely, SolarTech; Paul Detering, Tioga Energy; Tim Keating, SCS Renewables; Dirk Michels, K&L Gates. Anyone interested in viewing the Webinar can register online at:https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/241390118.

Questions about SAPC can be forwarded to SAPCinfo@nrel.gov. Please add your name to the Interested Parties list to maintain ongoing updates.

SAPC participants include:

Altus Power Management
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Borrego Solar
CalCEF
Capital Fusion Partners
Chadbourne & Parke LLP
CleanPath Ventures
Coronal Management LLC
Clean Power Finance
Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank
DOE
EcoPower Capital
Ed Feo (formerly with USRG Renewables)
Enfinity
K&L Gates LLP
Kroll Bond Ratings
kWh Analytics
Locus Energy
McCauley Lyman LLC
Nancy LaPlaca (formerly with the Arizona Corporate Commission)
OneRoof Energy
Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP
Rabobank
Recurrent Energy
Rocky Mountain Institute
Rosendin Electric
SCS Renewables
Sidley Austin LLP
Smart Energy Development
SolarCity
Solar Electric Power Association
SolarTech
Standard and Poor's
Stoel Rives LLP
Sungevity
SunPower
SunSpec
Sunrun
Tioga Energy
TÜV Rheinland Group
Union Bank

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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