Solar financier SPP nets $100M, aims for more

Despite a disappearing lending market, Mill Valley, Calif.-based Solar Power Partners (SPP) said today it has closed on $100 million in debt and equity financing, and expects to close an additional $60 million before the end of the year.

Investors and lenders include United Commercial Bank, Globespan Capital Partners, The Enlightened World Foundation, Carrelton Asset Management, Dry Creek Ventures, Silicon Valley Technology Group and Energy Investors Funds.

Solar Power Partners had previously raised $6.2 million in a Series A round to expand business operations (see Water soaks up the cash).

SPP offers power-purchase agreements (PPAs), in which the company owns, maintains and operates solar systems and sells the generated energy to the customer at a predetermined cost. The company works with commercial and government customers.

Solar PPAs are one of the new financing models that have helped accelerate the adoption of cleantech (see Eight cleantech developments to watch for in 2008).

San Francisco's Recurrent Energy said in July it raised $75 million from private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners for its PPA model, in addition to $200 million in financing from Morgan Stanley in December (see Solar continues to take in cash).

In June, San Francisco-based SunRun announced it raised $12 million from Foundation Capital to expand its PPA business.

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