Following the successful launch of its Term Loan product last spring (here is an in-depth Q&A we did with them at the time), Wunder Capital has announced an expansion to the scope of project types that are eligible for financing. Wunder, a financier in the small to mid-sized commercial solar market, now services loan requests up to $1.5 million (previously capped at $1 million) and offers debt capital to third-party owned systems.
Payment parameters
Wunder’s Term Loans were designed as a 7-year, non-recourse option for commercial building owners looking to maximize returns on their solar investment while managing cash flows. Wunder’s flexible payment plan allows for borrowers to use available rebates and incentives to make early payments with no penalty. These payments trigger an automatic re-amortization of the remaining balance, lowering future payments as well as the overall cost of financing. The most common prepayment is with the ITC benefit, which, if used as an early payment in the first year of the loan, reduces subsequent payments by 30 percent.
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“We began to notice that a number of our partners were using their own corporate tax appetite to offer a handful of PPAs per year,” Birsic said. High demand for a limited supply of tax equity investors makes it nearly impossible to find a third party system owner for a one-off small commercial project.
Wunder’s recent product expansion allows for loans to be made directly to the SPV managing the system and to be paid back with revenues from the PPA and other incoming incentives. The non-recourse loans provide some cashflow freedom for developers and EPCs building systems off their balance sheet. Loans can also be used to refinance existing, unlevered systems.
Wunder sources it’s projects through a growing partner network of EPCs and developers across 27 states. The recently announced product enhancements are a direct reflection of partner feedback, says Bryan Birsic, Wunder’s CEO. “We launched a handful of software enhancements this fall which really allowed our financing team to focus more on listening to our partners and improving the product and less on administrative tasks.”
Wunder loans are eligible across the continental US and Wunder deploys all of their financing products through partnerships with EPCs, project developers, and a network of national equipment manufacturers and distributors. Partners are not charged dealer or application fees.
-- Solar Builder magazine
