July 19, 2010

New York, NY, USA: Rabobank and SolarCity Collaborate on Project Financing

Rabobank and SolarCity are collaborating on a range of new solar projects with Rabobank providing project financing for numerous solar projects across SolarCity’s service areas.

Separately, Rabobank, N.A., the community bank, also announced that SolarCity will complete the installation of six new solar power systems on branch locations throughout California.

“We’re very pleased that this transaction marks our first solar energy project financing in the U.S. market and is the ninth transaction since we launched our renewable energy business in the Americas less than one year ago,” said Ron Klein, managing director with Rabobank’s Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Finance (REIF) group in New York. “In the solar space, this is an ideal fit for our portfolio as we continue to look for opportunities in aggregated distributed generation as well as utility scale solar.”

In July of last year, Rabobank expanded its successful European REIF business to the Americas, focusing on large-scale renewable energy project financing in the wind, bio-mass and solar arenas. Already, Rabobank has become one of the most active players in the U.S. renewable energy project finance field.

“As a solar company, it is great to see an AAA-rated bank getting into the solar financing business,” said Lyndon Rive, chief executive officer of SolarCity. “Rabobank is also adopting its own clean power through its California retail banking arm by signing on with SolarCity to host electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and install solar panels on multiple branch locations.”

SolarCity is installing new solar systems at Rabobank branch locations in Atascadero, Castroville, El Centro, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and Salinas. The new installations cumulatively total 200 kilowatts of new solar capacity and are expected to offset an estimated 50 percent of Rabobank’s energy use at the six locations. In regard to renewables, Rabobank, N.A. is oriented toward financing solar systems for its commercial clients through its renewable finance team in California. Several of the solar installations on Rabobank’s California branches are already underway.

In 2009, Rabobank and SolarCity collaborated on a series of electric vehicle charging stations co-located at Rabobank branches along highway 101 to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles. The six new solar installations are intended to complete the solar component of the corridor, providing clean, renewable power at or near each EV charging station to offset the electricity needed to charge the vehicles.

“We are committed to supporting solar energy in California, whether on our own branch buildings or with our customers,” said Marco Krapels, executive vice president of Rabobank, N.A. and co-chair of Rabobank, N.A.’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee. “Solar energy financing is a part of our effort to promote sustainability and to expand renewable energy financing in our banking business, and in our customer relationships.”

Further details: Rabobank and SolarCity