The solar photovoltaic market is experiencing rapid growth and evolution. Medium-scale distributed PV projects are proliferating. Such projects range from 250 kilowatts to 5 megawatts in size, cost $1-25 million, and sell wholesale power to utilities or directly to large users behind the meter. Users include universities, corporations, and towns looking to reduce their electricity bills and carbon footprint and to repurpose industrial lands and closed landfills. Several states actively encourage such projects, offering feed-in tariffs, enhanced net metering, solar renewable energy credits (RECs), performance rebates, and loan programs, as well as mandates requiring their utilities to offer long term purchase agreements.

Solar developers are struggling to finance these projects. Financing structures used for large PV projects are too expensive and complex for distributed PV projects. Most existing tax equity investors prefer the large projects or lack local market familiarity. These conditions favor entry by new investors, yet new-to-market investors and their advisory firms may lack sector expertise or personnel.

Birch Tree Capital is advising solar project investors in several ways:

• Craft sector investment plans to meet investors' risk profiles and appetite.
• Advise on available Federal and state solar incentives.
• Find suitable developer partners and PV project opportunities.
• Conduct initial "fatal-flaw" reviews of potential solar projects.
• Build financial pro formas and conduct sensitivity & uncertainty analyses.
• Oversee detailed due diligence reviews.
• Coordinate specialized legal, tax, insurance, permitting, and contract analyses.
• Negotiate equity letters of intent and definitive agreements.
• Review other equity and debt financing commitments to ensure consistency with the investor’s risk profile and strategy.