Advanced Solar Finance

1. Joy Hughes – Solar Gardens Institute
Solar Gardener Training

2. Mind the Gap!
Financiers
Communities

3. Community
Supported Energy
Multiple Owners, Single Off-Taker
Owners | Off-takers
Co-op Owner House of Worship
Nonprofit
Securitized
Community Center
Owner
Exempt
LLC
User
JOBS Act Owner

4. Solar Garden
Single Owner, Multiple Off-Takers
(Power Purchase Model)
Owners | Off-takers
Local Bank
Guarantor Corporation
Owner
Insurance
Municipality
Bank
Private Equity
Limited Partnership User User User

5. Community Power
Multiple Owners, Multiple Off-
Takers
Doesn’t
… yet.
exist ...
Owner
Owner Owner User User
Owner Owner
//User
User / User

6. Policy, People,
and Projects
Online Solar Gardener
Training
Featuring “Master Gardeners”
50+ Trainees
Live Confluence Tour
Boston, NYC, Omaha, San Francisco

7. Policy, People, an
d Projects
Project Assistance
20+ projects - five states
in our “seedling bed”
Advice for Students
12 students across U.S.

8. Learning From
Communities
Communities want to be
told what to do
BUT
They want local control
Communities want to choose a
local installer, find their own
Communities want to own subscribers, and own the
project through a “flip” model.
the project Solar finance literacy is
BUT needed. All stakeholders must
They want no risk be included.

9. Social Score
Principles of
Community Power
1. Grass Roots 6. Community ownership
2. Maximize distribution 7. Keep money local
3. Minimize impacts 8. Inclusivity
4. Multiple use 9. Community
engagement
5. Supports local
institutions 10. Solidarity

10. Environmental
Score
Principles of
Responsible Solar
Development
1. Tree Preservation 6. Local Designers
2. Share the Land 7. Micro-grids
3. Shade over 8. Responsible Business
Pavement Practices
4. Good Neighbor Policy 9. Microfinance
5. Limited Scale 10. A hand up

11. Financial Score
Subscriber’s Bill of
Rights
1. Reasonable cost 6. Low Fees
2. Path to Ownership 7. Solar Gardener
Support
3. Portability /
Transferability 8. Host Support
4. Financial Protection 9. Program Support
5. Customer Service 10. Community Support

12. Learning From
Financiers
Financiers want shovel-
ready projects
BUT
They don’t want to pay for
up-front costs
Financiers want low cost
proven installers - and
subscribers with stellar
Financiers want to control credit. They are
the project constrained by tax law and
by their bankers’ risk
BUT models. Brand-new
They want no risk programs are scary.

13. Marketplace
Community gets a good finance fit
Financiers get qualified projects
Communitie
s Financiers
Solar Tax
Garden Equity
Solar
Manage
Gardener
Expectations
Training Standard offer
Program
Project Open Source
CSE Scoring Security
Checklist Contracts
Project
Community
Pitches
Decision
Rooftop Co-op
Program
Installer Hosting
Choice Services

16. Thank You!
solargardens.org
Joy Hughes – founder – joy@solargardens.org
Robyn Lydick – Media Relations –
robyn@solargardens.org
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