Wells Fargo and SunPower today announced a new collaborative effort to fund up to $100 million in SunPower commercial-scale solar systems.
Under the financing program, SunPower will enter into power purchase agreements with qualified customers and Wells Fargo will finance the solar power systems that SunPower will design, build, operate, and maintain. That means customers hosting solar power systems will be able to buy the electricity from 400-megawatt SunPower at competitive prices with retail rates. It will also provide them with a long-term hedge against rising power prices and the ability to take advantage of the environmental and financial benefits of solar power with no initial capital investment.
Wells Fargo has provided more than $1.75 billion in financing for renewable energy projects since 2006, including funding for 27 wind projects, more than 150 commercial-scale solar projects and one utility-scale solar thermal project.
“We see increasing opportunities over the next several years to support renewable energy markets,” said Barry Neal, director of Wells Fargo’s Environmental Finance. “By teaming up with SunPower, we intend to support growth in the solar energy market by making it easier and more affordable for businesses and public entities to benefit from solar electricity today.”
The first projects financed under the program include a 1.1-megawatt system for University of California, Merced, and a 1-megawatt system for the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority. Scheduled for completion by year end, both will be ground-mounted systems using the patented SunPower(R) T20 Tracker technology, which follows the sun throughout the day and delivers up to 30 percent more energy than fixed-tilt ground systems.
