225 kW Rooftop Solar for Listed Company – Chemical Manufacturer in Sri City
Our partner has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the customer for the deployment, commissioning and management of a 225 kW rooftop solar project. The solar plant has been operational for over one year. The loan here will backfill a live solar plant, freeing up capital to deploy for new energy projects. As a result, this customer not only reduces their carbon footprint significantly but also realizes greater savings on their electricity bill.
Length of Loan
Project Status

Project Impact

Electricity Offset
562
According to U.S. Energy Information Administration- 2019 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, the average U.S. household consumes about 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh) per year.

Emission Offset
Equivalent to this number of gasoline cars off the road every year
1,180
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2020), average greenhouse gas emissions per passenger vehicle is 4.60 metric tons CO2 per year.

Number of Trees Planted
1,570
According to Green Mountain Energy (based on U.S. Department of Energy's method for calculating carbon sequestration by trees), a typical tree takes in 8,397 lbs CO2 over its lifetime.
Project Details
Started in 1983, the customer established the first membrane cell plant for Chloralkali production in India; it has also built a long legacy of sustainability and diversity in the workplace. The customer is one of the first major chemical organizations in India to introduce and implement innovative technologies successfully and stay at the forefront of the industry. With considerable investment in processes and quality improvement, the customer’s operations have been at the cutting-edge of technology since its inception.
As part of the Power Purchase Agreement signed, the partner commissioned and is currently managing the 225 kW rooftop solar project. Customer is saving upwards of 15% per unit of electricity generated.
Loan Details
The partner will repay the loan within 5 years through cash flow generated from the sale of solar power to the chemical factory.
Repayment Schedule: Monthly
Disbursement Date: Within 48 hours from your loan being received
Funding Model: Loan
Partner Covers Currency Loss? Yes
Field Partner: Distributed Energy
Is Borrower Paying Interest: Yes, 7.5%
FAQs
In emerging markets, the upfront cost of a solar plant is anywhere between $500 – $800 per kilowatt of panels installed. This includes equipment including solar panels, inverters, cables, installation frames, etc and skilled labor.
For organizations who need sizeable solar plants, this cost can be unreachable. It means capital expenditure (cash) is redirected from other core operations of their organization.
We help organizations spread the cost of their solar plant between 5 to 20 years. So instead of paying for the solar plant upfront, they pay a per kWHr (unit of electricity) rate over time. We model the cost of maintenance and the interest rate in this repayment plan to make it attractive for investors. Our partners collect this money from the organization and pay us. This is how we generate a 6% return from these plants.
We are backed by good samaritans – organizations that have the same goals as us – to speed up renewable energy deployment. As a result, the first $100 invested by the first 1,000 people is guaranteed.
Most of our funding arrangements are backed by PPAs and asset -backed by the installed solar panels and equipment.
renewables.org solves these problems by curating partners in Asia and Africa, and the Middle East. Our partners sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with organizations that need clean energy. Then, renewables.org connects these partners with your funding.
Data on the Internal Rates of Return (IRRs) of various projects are not easily found, as investors rarely disclose such information[1]. But secondary data suggest that the IRR for renewable energy projects is about 8-9%, with an initial dividend yield of about 6% and positive real dividend growth (IEEFA, 2017; Edwardson, 2019; Tweed, 2016).
Returns depend on many factors, such as:
1) how the investment is made (via equity, debt, direct project investment, fund investments, etc.);
2) risks linked to the location and size of the project (political, economic, currency, regulatory);
3) the cost of capital;
4) the quality of legal documentation; and
5) the credibility of the buyer and project size.
Projects in emerging markets usually bring higher returns than projects in developed markets owing to their higher risks and lower competition. Based on data from the Mercatus’ platform of more than 80 GW of renewable energy projects, the average return (expressed as unleveraged IRR) on solar projects is 10.4% in the Middle East, 10.3% in Africa and 8.4% in Asia.
Separately, Moody’s 2021 and 2018 reports state that the project finance bank loans identifies ten-year cumulative default rates as lowest for green use-of-proceeds projects in the power industry sector (5.7%). Non-OECD non-high income countries (our target market) have a default rate of 5-7% on average in these sectors[2].
[1] Data from International Renewable Agency Report 2020 here (link https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2020/Nov/IRENA_Mobilising_institutional_capital_2020.pdf)
[2] Moody’s (link: https://www.moodys.com/) Infrastructure and Investment Finance Report 2021 and 2018 for Investors.
2. We carry out extensive due diligence on the opportunities that our partners bring. We evaluate the viability of the agreements as well as the customer;
3. We oversee the project execution to ensure high quality design and usage of industry-approved materials; and
4. We require our partners to insure all the assets against calamities, theft, fire, etc. This is in addition to pre-existing warranties on solar panels and inverters.
Also, solar plants, compared to other renewable energy sources of electricity, have higher viability in smaller sizes (in dollar terms). This allows us to offer loans against solar plants that can be repaid in a sustainable manner.
In general, there is a de minimis threshold of $10 per tax year. In other words, we have to complete/submit a form 1099-INT for/to each investor who lends to us and we pay more than $10 in interest to that investor per tax year.
Updates
- Partner submitted the proposal on Aug. 27, 2019
- Customer accepted the proposal on Sep. 30, 2019
- Construction and statutory approvals commencement on Dec. 15, 2019
- Plant went live on Mar. 28, 2020
- Statutory approvals received on Jun. 30, 2020
- Proposal submitted to renewables.org to backfill on May 30, 2021
100% of your loans go to a solar plant
We select projects through our on-ground partners. Our team regularly evaluates these funding opportunities technically and financially.