We ALL can fund the Clean Energy Revolution, and it is a GREAT investment!
Last week at Climate Week in New York City, the United Nations (UN) released a report that said it’s going to take $90 trillion dollars in public and private capital to address the worst impacts of climate change. The good news is clean energy proves to be a great investment and is already outpacing capital in fossil fuels thanks to large institutional financial backing. Despite this rapid growth, there is still a dramatic funding gap, and in order to bridge that gap, we need to be able to access the collective private capital available and capitalize on the clean energy revolution.
Clean energy, especially solar, is a great long-term investment
Clean energy has proven to be an excellent investment class that provides sound, predictable returns to investors. It can be a dependable piece of a diverse portfolio particularly in today’s environment. With corporate bonds yielding in the low single digits, clean energy can offer investors a similar risk profile with stronger returns. In a “high risk/low return world,” solar assets offer investors an attractive new alternative. It is a real asset with real returns.
Complicated offline process is fueling the funding gap
Hank Paulson addresses some of the policy barriers hindering “green investing” in his latest op-ed in the New York Times. While offering several options to broaden the base of private investment in clean energy, he fails to address the giant elephant in the room. At this current moment in time, there remains no simple way for everyday Americans to have access to clean energy investing. Regardless of whether the mechanism is a bond market or private energy trust, the need for financing expertise, legal counsel, etc. is keeping private capital away.
When I was working in the White House we were looking at ways to get everyday American’s involved. That is why my co-founders and I launched CleanCapital. We are excited that today for the first time, CleanCapital is expanding the opportunity to invest into diversified solar portfolios through an online platform.
Our platform is breaking down the biggest barrier stifling clean energy investing, by making the process simple, safe and secure. Gone are the days of expensive middlemen who drive up the costs.
We are changing the game of clean energy finance
Our platform identifies, screens and manages clean energy projects for investors. The team manages the entire process — from sourcing projects to underwriting and evaluating each project. Once the project is offered in a portfolio, we will actively monitor the investment in real-time and distribute proceeds to investors. By eliminating typical transaction barriers and making capital more accessible, we’re accelerating clean energy growth worldwide.
Why should YOU invest in this portfolio?
Solar investments are long term, yielding assets. Part of what you are acquiring are long term power purchase agreements between the projects and a power customer. In many cases these are well over 10 year agreements so that cash flow provides stable revenue. For instance, in our current offering equity investors are expecting double digit returns and we encourage people to have a long term investment horizons.
We can fund the clean energy revolution, and it is a GREAT investment!
$90 trillion is a large price tag, but it should not be seen as a bill, but as a worthy investment. It is feasible to fund the clean energy revolution, but only with everyday investors participating in this market. That is why CleanCapital is leading the way towards a new mechanism to support cleantech investments and a low-carbon future for the world.
