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A shortage of tax equity would hit smaller developers hardest, though the industry remains hopeful that lawmakers will help. But in that same conversation, investors from First Horizon Bank and M&T Bank said they were decelerating or done with investments for the year. And even as global investment bank RBC Capital Markets expects to nearly double its volume this year, “developers are finding many doors closed,” said Yonette Chung McLean, who works on that bank’s tax equity desk, in the same panel discussion. That’s put pressure on developers as well as financiers. Jim Spano, who develops projects through his firm Spano Partners and [...]

Today we interview the co-founder of RadiantREIT, Jim Spano, who you will see is perhaps the most knowledgeable solar finance professional in the US today. Spano and colleagues have given solar developers a new set of tools which greatly enhances their ability to develop and finance more solar projects. Watch the video

I like solar power because there’s a populist component to it. You don’t have to be a Fortune 50 company to develop a project. Small, smart, hardworking companies can bring a farm on line. It’s a quality about the sector that I also respected while working in the fracking industry. To Read the Full Article

Spano tells how REITs fix ill-fitting historic model -- The real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") has been recognized by the IRS since the 70s To Read the Full Article

Jim Spano is co-founder of RadientREIT, a firm pioneering the use of the REIT real-estate construct to treat solar generation deployments as real estate, making solar a very attractive investment. He also told us about his work using home solar plus battery storage to build virtual power plants. This industry is wide open and he has very few competitors and told us how regulatory constructs are blocking progress. Go to the Podcast

Mr. Spano is a managing partner of Spano Partner Holdings and leads other ventures as a nationally recognized expert in solar development and finance. He is the co-founder and head of originations at RadiantREIT, which will be the first solar mortgage real estate investment trust in the country, established to offer long-term, fixed-rate debt that enables more self-ownership for developers and healthier balance sheets. Jim is also the co-founder of My-Resi, an energy storage development company using aggregated residential solar plus storage to operate as virtual power plants. Lastly, Jim is a co-founder of Above Grid, a DG development company partnered [...]

I recently outlined the factors that family offices should keep in mind when considering whether or not to invest in solar. It is safe to say that none of us anticipated the markets and our world would change so drastically since that story was published just a couple of months ago. But there is still great value in educating family offices about the different types of solar investment opportunities — especially given the current volatility in equity markets and the appetite for low-risk vehicles with returns above 10-year Treasury yields. Read a Full Story Here

Even as global PV forecasts fall, tax equity dries up and unemployment rises, Jim Spano, co-founder of RadiantREIT, believes that the right type of government stimulus could not only help the solar industry recover — but drive it to new heights. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, the U.S. Treasury created Program 1603, which gave payments, instead of investment tax credits, to income-generating clean energy projects. Read the Full Story Here

Tell us about yourself and your company RadiantREIT. I am the co-founder and head of originations at RadiantREIT,and I lead other ventures in the solar and real estate industries as a managing partner of Spano Partners Holdings, a real estate investment firm. I am also the co-founder of My-Resi, an energy storage development company. I am the founder and president of the New Jersey Solar Grid Supply Association (NJSGSA), vice president of the Mid-Atlantic Solar & Storage Industry Association (MSSIA), on the board of the International Battery and Energy Storage Alliance (IBESA), a founding member of The CleanTech Leaders Roundtable, and [...]

Solar energy is rapidly expanding and shows no signs of slowing down. Over the past decade, the industry has experienced an average annual growth rate of 50%. Working in real estate, finance and renewable energy, I’ve seen how investors — from the biggest fund management firms to individuals — are taking note, and family offices are particularly well positioned to invest in this growing market. Read the Full Story Here