200 kW Rooftop Solar for Educational Institution in Tamil Nadu, India
Our partner has signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the customer for the deployment, commissioning and management of a 200 kW rooftop solar project. As a result, this customer will not only reduce their carbon footprint but also realize greater savings on their electricity bill.
Length of Loan
Project Funded

Project Impact

Electricity Offset
518
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
1,088
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
1,498
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
The Educational Institution is a registered charitable trust and educational establishment in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The trust was established in 1973 and is a part of a larger family organisation that have businesses in exports of coffee, pepper and having their establishment in automobiles, jewelry and construction. The trust operates twelve hours a day and based on the site visit conducted by our partner, they have suitable and sufficient rooftop space for the proposed installation. Furthermore, the trust is eligible for net metering benefits whereby an excess electricity generated from the solar plant that goes unused can be banked with the grid and credited to the trust at a later stage.
Based on the technical evaluation, the solar plant will be spread across 3 roofs and broken down into 4 times 50 kW systems. Currently, the customer is paying a premium to the electricity grid and has been looking to transition towards a cleaner and cheaper source of electricity. As a result, the customer has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with the partner for the commissioning and management of the 200 kW rooftop solar project. Customer can expect savings 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 Educational Institution.
Repayment Schedule: Monthly
Disbursement Date: Within 48 hours of 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 Sep. 10, 2020
- Customer accepted the proposal on Mar. 31, 2021
- Construction and statutory approvals commencement on May 06, 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.