Apr 2, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

RE-volv Announces New $10M Recoverable Grant Investment Opportunity

RE-volv, a nonprofit organization and leading financier of solar for community-serving nonprofits, announces the launch of a $10M recoverable grant investment opportunity to help unlock the market for solar in communities that bear the brunt of pollution and climate change. RE-volv has already received its first three recoverable grants totalling $275,000 through leading national donor advised funds facilitated by CapShift, an impact investing firm that helps facilitate recoverable grants.

RE-volv expects this fund, representing a new model for financing for solar projects, to more than double its year-over-year impact, allowing it to finance 3MW of solar for nonprofits that provide critical services in communities facing outsized impact from the economic downturn.

“Lack of access to up-front capital has made it especially difficult for nonprofits serving some of the most environmentally and economically impacted communities to reap the benefits of solar,” said Andreas Karelas, RE-volv founder and executive director. “Unlocking new sources of capital to ensure equitable solar access for all will transform the energy landscape, and leave communities more resilient and more sustainable.”

Recoverable grants are a growing philanthropic trend in which donors recoup their funds plus a small return when a certain impact milestone is met. RE-volv will use the capital to finance solar projects for nonprofits, who then pay RE-volv for the power at an average of 15% less than their local utility rates. RE-volv is able to repay the grant and make a small return to the donating organization so they can give to future charitable projects.

This new model builds on RE-volv’s original revolving fund, which used crowdfunding to generate project capital. A $10 Million commitment from Trisolaris, LLC in 2019 has already allowed RE-volv to dramatically increase both the size and number of installations. Through this commitment, RE-volv will bring 17 new projects totalling 2.9MW of power online by the end of 2021, compared with just 400kW in 28 projects in the previous nine years.

The new recoverable grant fund will help RE-volv continue to scale its solar finance program and meet a growing demand for clean energy from the nonprofit sector. RE-volv is partnering with CapShift to support the recoverable grant initiative.