8point3 energy partners

First Solar and SunPower have agreed to sell their Joint Venture solar power plant yieldco, 8point3 Energy Partners, to energy investment firm Capital Dynamics, Inc., for US$977 million in equity value and about US$1.7 billion in enterprise value in an all cash transaction.

US-headquartered PV manufacturers SunPower and First Solar are expected to collectively sell their stakes in their joint venture yieldco, 8point3 Energy Partners.

8point3 Energy Partners has agreed to acquire First Solar’s entire 34% stake in the 300MW Stateline solar PV project in California for US$329.5 million.

Yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners has entered into an agreement with SunPower to acquire a 49% stake in Pacific Gas & Electric’s 102MW Henrietta solar project for US$134 million.

Over the past 12 months, the US solar business has been on a rollercoaster ride, with the high-profile bankruptcy of SunEdison and the merger of SolarCity and Tesla stealing the headlines. Danielle Ola talks to the experts about some of the key trends shaping the world of solar finance and investment in the US.

The solar yieldco business model was “flawed from the beginning”, says a US bank executive, who downplays sentiment that it was the SunEdison yieldco disaster that tarnished the model for good.

8point3 Energy Partners, the yieldco company formed by SunPower and First Solar, has signed agreements to acquire interest in the 50MW Hooper Project from SunPower and the 40MW Kingbird Project from First Solar.

Wells Fargo and 8point3 Energy Partners — the yieldco company formed by SunPower and First Solar — has announced that a joint venture between the two companies has acquired 22MW of SunPower PV systems under constitution at 27 Kern High School District locations in Kern Country, California.