Commercial Solar PPAs 101 - Self Study
About this course
After taking this course you will understand:
- The variables that go into modeling a commercial solar PV project
- The basics of community solar legal structures
- The most common legal structures used to finance commercial solar projects and how they vary based on regulations and investor concerns
- The variables that determine the financial feasibility of microgrids
Course outline
Module 1 • 10 assignments
Legal Structures 101
- How Commercial Solar EPCs Can Finance Their Own Projects (01:03:49 hours)
- Primary Tax Equity Finance Structures (.pdf)
- Reading: Tax Perspectives on a Partnership Flip (.pdf)
- A Discussion of Partnership Flips (02:18 minutes)
- Master PPA Structures (05:53 minutes)
- Special Owner/Lessor Arrangements (06:12 minutes)
- Sample PPA Agreement Template (.docx)
- "How We Financed a 13kW Community Solar Project on a Church in Massachusetts" - HeatSpring Magazine
- Basics of Commercial Solar Legal Structures (8 questions)
- Totally optional: iPhone App for taking this class (50 seconds)
Module 2 • 3 assignments
Due Diligence and Bankability
- Six Stages of Solar Bankability (.pdf)
- How to Structure a Bankable Solar PV Project
- Assessing Risks with Non-Profit PPAs (10:39 minutes)
Module 3 • 5 assignments
Finance and Modeling 101
- Introduction to Leverage - Khan Academy (10:00)
- Understanding Debt, Risk, and Leverage
- Pre- and Post-Tax Returns (10:56 minutes)
- Understanding Risk in SREC and ZREC Markets (06:36 minutes)
- Audio: Advice from a $20MM Solar Project Investor
Module 4 • 3 assignments
Microgrid Modeling
- Presentation Slides: Microgrid Economics & Feasibility (.pdf)
- "Microgrid Economics and Feasibility" - Part 1 - Lecture (24:32 minutes)
- "Microgrid Economics and Feasibility" - Part 2 - Questions (24:59 minutes)
Authors
Keith Cronin
What kind of world do you want to live in? Two plus decades of cleantech experience on our journey together to sequester carbon in meaningful ways. Blessed with a multidisciplinary skill set of development, finance, business, and deep connections globally. The road to your destiny is often a curved line. After a decade on the East Coast, it catapulted me to Hawaii to...
Chris Lord
Christopher J. Lord is the Managing Director of CapIron, Inc., a firm focused, among other things, on helping clients plan, structure and close financings involving renewable energy projects, including Distributed Generation and Utility-Scale Projects. Mr. Lord graduated from Cornell Law School, and practiced corporate law in firms, and in-house, for over 25 years. He...
Mahesh Bhave
Mahesh Bhave is a Visiting Professor of Strategy at Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, India. He has worked in product management, strategy, and business development positions at Hughes, Sprint, and Citizens in the United States. He is the founder of a rich media communications start-up in San Diego, CA. He is an engineer from IIT, New Delhi and Ph.D. from...
