Master Speaker Session: Community Solar Can Break More Than One “Cycle”: Here is How Those Community Benefits Start with Financing

Sol-REIT founding CEO Mark Settles will discuss the potential impact of community solar development by capital-empowered EPCs and Developers as a paradigm shift that can break more than a few cycles (sale at NTP, external ownership of community assets, and LMI renewable energy market participation, i.e. energy equity).

Settles will briefly introduce a model that permits long term ownership and portfolio development that empower community solar developers to capitalize on their contribution to the shift to renewables – a shift that Jigar Shah, director of loan programs at the U.S. Department of Energy, and others have suggested is the “largest wealth creation opportunity on the planet.”

He’ll then discuss why the question “who participates” matters, not just in context of IRA adder-targeted low-to-moderate income off takers, but he’ll consider the economic impacts to small to mid-size solar developers. Mark will paint a picture of both increased returns for developers and a potential diversification of the green energy economy and solar industries. He will make recommendations based on current experiences with Sol-REIT, his D&I experience with J.P. Morgan Chase, and will carry with him the insightful contributions to the discussion from several regional solar association leaders from across the nation who are working first-hand to develop policies, train workforces and create the “ground-mounts” to successful community solar partnerships.