Ep.0 - Introducing Banking on Solar

Banking on Solar host, Bart Frischknecht, shares the purpose and intended audience for the podcast. Solar developers, investors, and lenders risk losing projects when they bog down during financing. Banking on Solar is the podcast community where energy transition project financing stakeholders share lessons learned so that more projects get built.

Credit to https://www.FesliyanStudios.com for the background music

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
It's time for banking on solar.
This is your host Bart Frischknecht.
Solar developers, investors, andlenders all risk losing projects
when they bog down during financing.
Banking on Solar is the podcastcommunity where energy transition project
financing stakeholders share lessonslearned so that more projects get built.
By listening, you willhear how deals get done.

(00:23):
This podcast is a resource forprofessionals that are new to the
solar industry to get up to speedquickly on financing solar projects.
It's also a resource for experiencedprofessionals seeking to tap into an
increasing network of project financingstakeholders across the US and the world.
If you've been listening to podcastsin this industry, you'll know there are
policy and economics oriented podcasts.

(00:45):
There are big picture financeand investment podcasts, there
are news Roundup podcasts, thereare industry profile podcasts to
interview industry illuminaries.
These shows all tend to take apersonality first smorgasbord
approach, or a current event focusedapproach, both super valuable.
In contrast, banking on solar focuseson a single transactional issue.

(01:07):
How to get more projectsfunded with the goal of helping
everyone get more projects built.
The solar industry is poised for long-termgrowth, but there are a few bottlenecks.
Two of them we'll address on this podcast.
One, investors and lenders that arecomfortable with solar so that they
choose to put their capital to workin solar rather than staying on the
sideline or settling for opportunitieswhere they have more experience.

(01:29):
And two, developers understand bothrenewable energy development and
project financing deeply so that theycan bring high quality projects that
investors and lenders can say yes to.
At first blush, this may seem to be anew to the industry issue or a new to
the industry type podcast, and it is.
New developers and new investors andlenders are moving into this space.

(01:50):
And with how fast technology andproject scope is evolving, even the
most experienced in the industryare creating or considering new
types of projects all the time.
We can all help each other.
You still may be asking yourself ifyou're in the right place, if you
are a solar developer, investor,lender, attorney, or consultant with
responsibility for some aspect of projectfinance, you're in the right place.

(02:12):
I created this podcast because I'm oneof those people starting as an outsider
working on moving to insider status.
We'll learn together withthe interview guests.
We'll cover a range of up-to-datetopics like the basics of project
financing and typical capital stackswith renewables, but also questions
like is merchant revenue here tostay versus contracted revenue?
What are the issues coming out of the ira?

(02:34):
How is it gonna be interpreted?
What precedents can we look to?
What are other pendinglocal and state policies?
What are additional new and andinteresting financing structures?
What are the new and growing markets?
What are the technology innovationsthat we need to take into account?
And what are the legalperspectives on all of this?
But all of these topics from theperspective of things we've seen go right

(02:55):
and things that have gone bad on the wayto getting projects funded and built.
If you have an interesting guest idea forsomeone you'd like to see on the show,
or if you have something to share withthis group, leave a voice message on the
website, bankingonsolar.media, or sendme a note at [e-mail].
You can also find me on LinkedIn.

(03:16):
Now is the time to be banking on solar.
There is money to be madeand the planet to save.
Until next time, I'm Bart Frischknecht,and this is Banking on Solar.