Photon Energy Investments (PEI), a division of PV solutions and services company Photon Energy has launched a standardised financing model through its fully-owned subsidiary, Photon Energy Generation Australia (PEGA).
Targeting the commercial rooftop PV market in Australia, the company is providing funding for PV systems with no up-front capital required, along similar lines to third-party leasing that has been successfully employed in the US residential market.
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PEI highlighted that funding for mid-sized PV systems remains the main challenge for the industry. With a financing package already in place the company said that it could support a large number of PV system installations in Australia.
PEGA will offer commercial customers a Commercial Hire Purchase (CHP) agreement or a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the possibility to acquire the PV system at a later time.
The company said that the PV projects were supported by the system of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated by power plants using renewable energy sources. CHPs would be signed for an average of 10 years, while PPAs would be provided by PEGA to customers for up to 30 years.
“Photon Energy's financing model includes a top quality solar plant and full service over the life of the hire purchase or PPA that ensures cost savings are maximised,” said Michael Gartner, managing director of Photon Energy Australia.
Georg Hotar, CEO of Photon Energy Investments said: “At the same time we are implementing the strategy highly valued by PEI's bond investors, focusing on the long-term ownership of PV assets in markets where grid parity has already been achieved.”
The company noted that it was targeting companies with a large number of rooftop properties, such as retail chains, hotels, industrial companies and similar enterprises and had already secured a project pipeline of more than 60MWp.
“Customers can rely on Photon Energy's track record of connecting over 50MWp of PV plants to the grid across four European markets, while having already built the largest rooftop PV systems in the ACT and Sydney. The crucial ingredient for standardised financing, however, is Photon Energy's world-class Operations & Maintenance capabilities, which fundamentally de-risk PV plants,” added Hotar.
