IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Sunwealth Power, Inc.
Clean Technology, Alternative Energy & Climate Change
Small/Medium Business Development
Diversity, Equity and InclusionFirm Overview
Sunwealth is a clean energy investment firm on a mission to change who benefits from renewable energy by changing the way we invest in it. We envision a future where renewable energy is accessible, affordable, and inclusive. We invest in that future by financing and managing high-performance solar plus storage projects in the built environment that deliver clean power, cost savings and quality jobs to communities across the U.S., with a particular focus on low-income communities and communities of color. Sunwealth partners with skilled local solar installers, community organizations, local businesses and investors to bring solar access to houses of worship, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, municipalities and low-income households.
Years of Operation: 5 – 9 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
We need to invest in clean energy; applying an inclusion lens to the community-scale solar market allows us to use our investments to create meaningful economic and environmental benefits for underserved communities, strengthen local businesses and increase resilience – while delivering strong, stable, predictable financial returns to investors.
Clean energy plays a critical role in fighting climate change and addressing systemic economic inequality. Sunwealth is changing who has access to clean energy by changing the way we invest in it. We focus on financing community-based solar projects, particularly in LMI communities and communities of color where clean energy, green jobs, and savings are needed most. We also provide upstream development capital, seeking to help women and BIPOC-led solar developers grow their businesses and unlock new markets. We work with local developers and installers to bring solar to the rooftops and parking lots of affordable housing, schools, municipal buildings, houses of worship, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. Sunwealth builds diverse portfolios that deliver clean energy and savings to our customers, jobs and revenues to local installers, and strong returns to investors. Our economic and social inclusion lens helps build a clean energy future in which all communities have a stake.
We deploy capital differently - focusing not just on how much solar we build, but also on where it’s built and who benefits. We focus on ensuring projects create solar access and generate meaningful economic benefits for LMI communities. We employ an economic inclusion lens, delivering clean energy, jobs and savings to underserved markets nationwide, while supporting local solar developers and installers and generating strong, stable returns for investors. Sunwealth focuses on small-scale community-based solar projects, a market that’s been overlooked by traditional investors due to non-traditional credit histories and high transaction costs associated with underwriting. Our innovative and rigorous underwriting process seeks to understand the underlying value in our market and helps ensure financial and operational performance. Most importantly, our approach allocates the economic and financial benefits of each solar project more equitably among the partners and stakeholders, providing a sustainable model for equitable and inclusive solar investment.
Investment Example
Sunwealth partners with independent local solar companies to grow their businesses, strengthen their regions' resilience, and develop solar for values-driven organizations with deep community roots. Sunwealth partnered with Co-op Power, a consumer-owned energy cooperative, and PV Squared, a worker-owned solar installation cooperative, to develop and install a rooftop solar array and carport at River Valley Co-op (RVC) in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The projects at RVC, a consumer-owned cooperative grocery store, total over 900 kW and are complimented by 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) worth of battery storage. RVC will purchase half of the generated energy, with the other half allocated to low-income community solar subscribers. To RVC, the project will deliver almost $244,000 in lifetime savings, and over $218,000 to community solar subscribers. Sunwealth is proud to have developed an innovative and impactful solar plus storage project that benefits cooperative organizations, the local energy grid’s sustainability and resilience, and LMI community members.
Leadership and Team
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Jonathan Abe – Chief Executive Officer More Info
Jon is a renewable project developer, financier, and asset manager with deep commercial solar transaction experience. Previously, Jon was a Senior Vice President at Nexamp, where he served as the head of business development, asset management, and policy. At Nexamp, Jon supported the development and financing of more than 40 MW of commercial-scale solar projects. He was also General Manager of Nexamp Capital, which controlled a diverse portfolio of solar assets. Additionally, Jon worked for the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust where he developed and managed the $68 million Commonwealth Solar program. Jon holds a BA from Cornell University. |
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Omar Blayton – Chief Financial Officer More Info
As CFO, Omar is responsible for creating and structuring Sunwealth’s investment portfolios for maximum financial performance and social impact. Prior to joining Sunwealth, Omar was Managing Director of Project Finance at Innova Energy Partners and before that, Vice President of Structured Finance at Greenskies Renewable Energy, a leading commercial and industrial solar developer. Earlier in his career, Omar was a Vice President with Reznick Capital Markets Securities and an associate in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Leveraged Finance Group. Before entering finance, Omar was an attorney with Reed Smith LLP in its Investment Management group. |
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Kathy Castle – Vice President of Accounting & Operations More Info
Experienced Controller with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and construction industries. Strong accounting professional skilled in Financial Reporting, Microsoft Excel, Accounting, General Ledger, and Accounts Payable. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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Sunwealth's deal sourcing, due diligence and underwriting processes are designed to bring solar to underserved solar markets, particularly low-income communities, communities of color, and underserved rural/urban communities. Evaluation of social and environmental impact is integral to every project we underwrite. We intentionally partner with local developers and installers, including women-/BIPOC-led firms, to help grow their businesses, so solar jobs and revenues build a stronger local/regional economy. We encourage our partners to source and develop deep impact projects - with a particular focus on addressing income and race disparities in solar access and adoption - and we actively develop these projects ourselves. We screen all projects/customers for impact - qualifying the organization's history, mission, and roots in the community. We look beyond standard credit reports to understand underlying ability to pay for power - and have found ways to underwrite projects w/ non-standard credit and/or households with low credit scores.
Sunwealth is working to build a more inclusive solar economy; we are also working to strengthen and diversify our local and regional solar development ecosystem. For this reason, we pay particular attention to the solar development and installation partners with whom we partner to develop solar projects in our portfolio. Our investment model provides an opportunity to strengthen the local supply chain - creating jobs, revenue and long-term income streams for small businesses and independent contractors who comprise the "green economy" workforce. Recognizing that lack of representation among this workforce and the ownership of solar development companies creates an additional barrier to solar deployment in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color, we are particularly focused on employee diversity and our partners' efforts to make solar jobs and training accessible to entry-level employees, especially from underrepresented communities.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
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2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA
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