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Aiming commercial solar energy systems and battery storage systems, SolarCity launched a fund including an investment from Credit Suisse for business, schools and government organizations acroos the U.S. on Earth Day. SolarCity and Credit Suisse finalized the deal in February and the international financing organization plans to invest more than US$1 billion in the fund.
SolarCity and Credit Suisse have launched a series of collaborations for solar-related business. Credit Suisse has acted as structuring agent and bookrunner for SolarCity’s industry-first securitization transactions, and also as structuring agent and administrative agent for the facility to finance the purchase of solar energy systems through SolarCity’s new MyPower loan program. The latest fund is one of the largest one of its kind, and the company began funding the first solar projects in late March. Over the next two years, the fund is expected to finance more than 300MW of new commercial solar PV projects nationwide.
Jerry Smith, a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, commented, “The fund will help more businesses, schools and government organizations save money and help the environment – it’s a win-win scenario. We’re proud to support this progress with our investment.”
The fund was created to finance projects that utilize new SolarCity technologies that make it possible for more businesses and non-profit organizations to pay less for solar electricity than they pay for utility power. These include ZS Peak, a mounting system that can allow SolarCity to reduce commercial project build time from multiple weeks to just a few days, and DemandLogic, an intelligent battery storage system that allows businesses to further reduce energy costs by using stored electricity to reduce peak demand and associated utility demand charges.