solar leasing

The growth of European rooftop solar continues this year, with innovative companies raising capital to develop the market. It’s an encouraging trend with the potential to accelerate rooftop solar adoption. pv magazine correspondent Valerie Thompson takes a closer look.

Norwegian developer Empower New Energy has secured $74 million of mostly public funds from investors and will top it up to build a $100 million, three-year cash pile.

Lagos-based Daystar Power is targeting 400 MW of installed generation capacity by 2025, after being acquired by Shell mere days after the Starsight-SolarAfrica merger announcement.

A 600 kW, container-based solar array will be used to electrolyze green hydrogen at a mine in Limpopo, South Africa after Engie signed a two-year lease for the mobile system, at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena site.

Swedish platform Trine, which offers people the chance to invest in solar from as little as €25, has announced plans to generate €5 million credit for South African solar leasing partner Solarise Africa.

Abe Cambridge, chief executive and founder of solar cell-level, crowdfunding-based PV leasing business The Sun Exchange has spoken to pv magazine about the company’s project pipeline and its focus on bringing affordable clean power to schools.

Financial solutions company Solarise Africa has raised US$10 million to support its investment in solar PV projects in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. The company has also set its sights on more “difficult” territories, like the DR Congo, Chad and Sierra Leone. CEO Jan Albert Valk talked to pv magazine about the company’s plans, and the “overwhelming” need for more renewable energy investment on the African continent.

Dutch solar distributor Enie is offering to buy rooftop PV systems from cash-strapped owners who will then receive a monthly leasing fee before regaining ownership of the hardware a decade on. The company will pay around 85% of the initial cost of the arrays but said it will not consider systems with ‘poor’ design or components.

Solar support is on the way for businesses and communities struggling to cope as the coronavirus outbreak ripples across the continent.

Indian company Mahindra Susten will provide engineering, procurement and construction services on a $1.7m, 3.1 MW array for a German-Bangladeshi knitwear company which will buy the power generated for $0.077/kWh.