Friday, November 4 event in Boulder at St. Julien Hotel hosted by Colorado Bankers Association & Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association to uncover ways to make it easier to finance solar
More than one hundred solar energy and banking executives and policymakers are joining forces in Boulder this Friday to address one of the biggest barriers in the solar marketplace — the lack of widespread availability of financing.
With billions of dollars at stake in the growing renewable energy sector, industry and community leaders are hosting a ‘Solar Finance Roundtable’ event Friday, November 4 at 1pm at the St. Julien Hotel in Boulder to better understand what’s causing this barrier, and what can be done about it.
While solar leases and power purchase agreements are becoming more common today, industry leaders estimate that hundreds of solar companies across Colorado still lack sufficient access to capital to help finance customer solar projects as well as internal growth. Those who do find financing can face risk premiums and higher interest rates. The Solar Finance Roundtable will explore why this has been such a problem and will seek to uncover the emerging market solutions.
Solar Finance Roundtable panelists include executives from JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, FirstBank, Syndicated Solar, RE-Align Technology, Skyline Innovations, and others. The event is produced by the nonprofit Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association and the Colorado Bankers Association.
“Solar finance is one of the fastest growing sectors of the renewable energy marketplace,” said Neal Lurie, Executive Director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. “The need is clear but the availability of financing for solar projects or operational growth lags far behind customer demand. The Solar Finance Roundtable is one of the first events of its kind in Colorado, bringing solar and finance executives together to help unlock this billion dollar market opportunity.”
Despite the challenging economy, the few dozen solar businesses that have solid financing in place are experiencing tremendous growth. In Colorado, solar projects financed and owned by third-party organizations have quickly grown to be 50% of the residential solar electric market and an even larger part of the commercial and utility segments – though much of this growth has been limited to relatively few well-financed organizations.
It’s been even more difficult to find financing for solar thermal projects. According to researchers at NREL, solar thermal water heating performs better in Colorado than in any other state in the U.S.
The Solar Finance Roundtable includes presentations by industry leaders, panel discussions, networking, and is open to the public. For more information or to register visit: www.coseia.org
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