How a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial PV [Special Content From Wunder Capital]
The Interchange: Recharged - A podcast by Wood Mackenzie - Martedì
This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital. If you’re interested in learning more about is connecting investors and installers at a record pace, read the company’s 2018 mid-year review. Nick and Nick are good friends. They’re fellow solar geeks. They do business together. In fact, they may have cracked the commercial solar code together. Nick Kerwin is the director of partner development at Wunder Capital. Nick Giannotti is the president of New Columbia Solar in Washington, DC. The two met randomly when Nick Kerwin was on a trip in DC. They formed a bond over solar that resulted in a single deal. And then another. And then 26 deals. And now it’s closing in on 40. In a single year, Wunder and New Columbia closed $7 million in small commercial solar projects — some of the hardest projects to finance. “That was the beginning of the solar bromance,” said Kerwin. How are these companies blowing up so fast? Just this year, Wunder Capital financed 48 projects worth 33 megawatts of capacity all around the U.S. That’s $869 million in projects in just the first half of 2018. Isn’t commercial solar supposed to be really hard? We spoke with Nick and Nick about why they’ve had so much success. Have we finally created a replicable model for commercial solar?