As industry analysts have pointed out, the fundamental economics of solar power projects don’t change. If a particular facility is built with the expectation of a 30% federal investment tax credit, the absence of that credit may mean it doesn’t get built. It may be the case that off-takers will have to bear more of the financial burden for new projects in the form of higher power purchase agreements (PPAs) in order for developers to attract financing to start construction. While there is a constellation of “hyperscale” off-takers willing and able to pay higher costs, such as owners of data centers, this universe is not infinite.
Virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), wherein a buyer receives renewable energy credits (RECs) but is not the physical off-taker of electricity, is a key mechanism supporting new clean energy construction. Corporate buyers, most taking advantage of VPPAs, are reported to have procured over 40% – 100 GW – of the total capacity of U.S. solar and wind projects from 2014 to 2024. Of course, many of these projects also benefitted from federal tax credits.
One of the challenges going forward in financing new solar construction at its current breakneck pace is to attract new communities of investors. Cris Eugster, CEO and co-founder of Seattle-based REC marketplace Ever.green, told pv magazine USA that this requires more than just encouraging investors to reach deeper into their pockets. It means tapping into their motivations to support clean energy over and above financial incentives, and using VPPAs to expand the universe of financiers.
“A lot of companies have renewable energy as part of their core values because their customers expect and respond to it,” Eugster said. “So, that demand is there, whether it’s from their customers, their employees, their shareholders. At Ever.green, we are looking for ways that motivated companies can respond to that interest and demand through opportunities such as our marketplace. They want to do the right thing. We want to make it easier.”
A key focus of Ever.green’s approach to sparking interest in and demand for renewable energy projects is the concept of additionality. According to Eugster, people are more motivated and excited by solar, wind and energy storage projects that add new capacity to the grid instead of just getting a piece of a project that already exists on the spot market.
A company white paper says: “RECs purchased annually in the spot market from existing projects are not shown to help sustain projects or spur the development of new projects. For all spot market purchases, the revenue is not contracted and is therefore uncertain at the time of project financing.”
In order for RECs to support additionality, Eugster maintains, the transactional nature of the purchase has to move from an opportunistic model to offset tax liabilities to more of a multi-year commitment and investment model where the purchase contract is making a new project more financially viable and thus more likely to be built.
Moreover, Ever.green’s philosophy is to focus on “high-impact RECs” in its marketplace by documenting their “emissionality,” defined as is the practice of building projects on the dirtiest regional grid possible to maximize their climate benefits.
This concept was described by Tennessee-based clean energy platform Clearloop as “curing carbon blindness.” By incorporating the principle of emissionality, Clearloop says, companies looking to purchase RECs or to offset their carbon footprints should seek to contract with renewable projects in regions with the highest percentage of fossil fuel generation with the goal of retiring the latter with the new capacity.
Ever.green has built a registry where it logs each of its RECs, issued and retired, with the hour, date, location and emissionality of the grid where it was generated along with the 1 MW of electricity produced. Thus, the company is brokering RECs it says have more environmental and even social relevance than standard credits, such as those available on the spot market.
Eugster says the VPPA mechanism enables it to reach potential buyers beyond the typical group of corporate buyers as well those without the facilities to directly support solar production, such as smaller firms on the 12th floor of a high-rise in Manhattan, or those without a 20-year roof.
“The VPPAs have been kind of the gold standard there,” he said. “Combined with high-impact RECs we’ve reimagined a new approach that is a key part of the financing of a new renewable energy system.”
The search for new renewable energy investors in the sunset of federal tax credits is leading to some unexpected collaborations. Ever.green has a partnership with Superpower, a San Francisco-based rewards platform for online gamers that enables them to support renewable energy projects. Through player subscriptions, thousands of individual gamers collectively back new renewable energy capacity using VPPAs. Ever.green facilitates the transactions through its marketplace.
In July, the partnership announced that it is supporting the newly operational 110 MW ThreeW Solar Project in Hill County, Texas. This facility was already developed and financed, so it may be seen as a trial run for the concept. Superpower says it is currently helping to finance its first new-build project, a 10 MW solar plant under construction in the U.S.
Superpower has agreements with video game publishers to enable features that players can unlock through voluntary subscription in its service. For example, publisher 2K lets players gain access to premium athletes, powerups and custom features in its popular NBA, PGA and other sports titles. Video game players are familiar with such in-game-purchases to gain a modicum of advantage over opponents in an extremely competitive community. Superpower taps into that while also giving online players the ability to offset some of their energy usage.
This is perhaps a novel example of the uses to which VPPAs may be put to finance new renewable energy projects. Nevertheless, such “fractionalized” transactions could unlock whole new communities of motivated financers of new solar energy capacity.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now!
Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
10:00 am – 11:00 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, August 27, 2026
5:30 am – 6:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
You have no items in your basket.
