The abrupt U-turn in federal energy notwithstanding, the demand for more solar power in the US persists. After all, money talks. Solar is the fastest most economical way to add more kilowatts to the nation’s grid. That’s why solar investors are still pumping money into the US market, the latest example being a newly expanded $80 million line of credit for the Virginia-based solar real estate financing firm SolaREIT.
SolaREIT surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar in November of 2025, when the startup announced that it hit — and surpassed — the $5 billion milestone for the cumulative value of its transactions. SolaREIT focuses on the land acquisition end of solar power, with the aim of cutting through the financial red tape for developers.
“SolaREIT’s financing solutions are designed specifically for solar and energy storage developers and asset owners looking to monetize land or lease value, reduce lease costs, or create liquidity for interconnection, equipment, and development expenses,” the company explained.
Hitting the $5 billion mark in 2025 was an impressive feat, considering that the company launched just five years earlier with a lone transaction of $134,000 in its pocket. SolaREIT calculates that it has helped developers shepherd a total of 3 gigawatts’ worth of solar power into the grid across 19 states since 2020.
In a press statement dated November 19, SolaREIT CFO/COO Laura Klein expressed confidence about the company’s ability to keep growing, even while federal energy policy makers attempt to put the brakes on solar and wind power, too. “Reaching this milestone so quickly underscores the strength of our model and the vital role SolaREIT plays in accelerating the nation’s transition to clean energy,” Klein explained.
The latest news from SolaREIT affirms Klein’s outlook on the solar power market. Earlier today, SolaREIT announced that its revolving credit facility has been bumped up to $80 million. “This marks the fourth upsize of the facility in three years, reflecting confidence in SolaREIT’s business model and the increasing demand for storage and solar land financing solutions,” the company explained.
A credit facility is designed to streamline a series of transactions of the same type, enabling the parties to save time and money. “The facility provides SolaREIT with additional capital to meet demand from solar and battery energy storage developers,” SolaREIT noted.
“This year is a critical year for developers, and the need for reliable, flexible financing solutions is acute,” SolaREIT CEO and co-founder Laura Pagliarulo emphasized. “This increased capital allows us to continue scaling our support for solar and storage projects across the country as developers look to complete projects on an accelerated timeline.”
As its name indicates, SolaREIT’s business model is based on the Real Estate Investment Trust model, a type of real estate investment platform created through the Real Estate Investment Trust Act of 1960. The timing is of interest because it illustrates how renewable energy stakeholders can deploy broader financial structures to accelerate the uptake of solar power. Another, more recent example is the power purchase agreement format, first authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (see more PPA background here).
Solar power was little more than a blip on the screen back in 2005, and even less so in 1960. However, today’s solar industry meets the REIT bar described by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate,” SEC explains, with an emphasis on income-producing.
“A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets. These may include office buildings, shopping malls, apartments, hotels, resorts, self-storage facilities, warehouses, and mortgages or loans,” SEC elaborates, though they should probably update the list to include solar power plants.
The expansion of SolarREIT’s credit facility is further evidence that the demand for solar power will continue to attract investor dollars, regardless of federal energy policy. The expansion to $80 million was underwritten by Atlantic Union Bank, a branch of the Virginia-based Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation, and its syndication partner Maryland-based EagleBank.
“This fourth expansion of SolaREIT’s credit facility demonstrates both their excellent execution and the robust demand for solar and storage land financing,” said Atlantic Union Bank SVP John Lester in a press statement.
SolarREIT also notes that its focus on reducing the expense of land acquisition for solar power plants is timely, considering that the cost of real estate is a significant factor.
“Solar and battery energy storage development is land-intensive, with land costs now accounting for up to 15% of total project costs, up from just 5% a decade ago,” SolaREIT explains.
While financial innovators like SolaREIT are working to reduce the cost of solar power at the real estate transaction end, next-generation solar technology will also come into play. As former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pointed out last week, improvements in solar cell efficiency mean that less land is needed to generate the same — or even more — electricity, helping to reduce overall costs.
Another rising factor in the land acquisition space consists of brownfield property owners, some of which are beginning to realize they are sitting on a solar gold mine. The gigantic waste management firm WM, for example, recently upped the ante by launching a landfill-to-solar initiative covering 50 solar power plants, and possibly more, on sites in its waste disposal portfolio.
Floating solar technology is also contributing a share of the action to solar land acquisition. Although floating solar panels on a body of water poses its own set of engineering challenges, developers can avoid a significant amount of site preparation expenses compared to conventional ground-mounted solar panels.
One particularly interesting example is a new agreement between the solar developer Third Pillar Solar and the infrastructure management firm Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, aimed at equipping Diamond’s portfolio of managed reservoirs in Texas for a cumulative solar potential of 500 megawatts.
Since everything is bigger in Texas, keep an eye on a proposed 391 megawatt, floating solar power plant to be located in waters under the jurisdiction of the City of Port Arthur, Texas under the wing of the startup Diligence Offshore Solutions. If all goes according to plan, it will scale the US up to the level of the global industry, where triple-digit floating solar power plants have already emerged.
Photo: A 1960s-era real estate law is being deployed to support the 21st century solar power movement, despite the recent U-turn in federal energy policy (cropped, courtesy of SolaREIT).
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Tina has been covering advanced energy technology, military sustainability, emerging materials, biofuels, ESG and related policy and political matters for CleanTechnica since 2009. Follow her @tinamcasey on LinkedIn, Mastodon or Bluesky.
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