Clean energy projects do not stall because of technology. Solar projects involving solar panels have proven to be just as efficient; battery storage is commercially available; and microgrids are being installed at pilot scale in every major U.S. industrial sector.
What stops most commercial and industrial companies from implementing clean energy projects is primarily a capital issue: not knowing where to get renewable energy project funding or how to put together a deal that makes financial sense.
Funding opportunities for clean energy projects in the U.S. flow through a defined set of institutions, programs, and financing structures purpose-built for commercial or industrial scale. Let’s find out which institutions they are, what they offer, and how to approach them.
The Capital Stack C&I Companies Are Using
Most large clean energy projects are not single-source funded. They employ funds in a layered capital stack that includes tax equity, senior debt, and sponsor equity.
Tax equity is the largest piece. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides a base Investment Tax Credit (ITC) of 6% for large projects (over 1 MW AC), which increases to 30% if the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements are met.
Most C&I entities do not have a federal tax appetite to directly utilize these credits and instead monetize them with tax equity investors. Senior debt is the balance. This is where C&I entities can access funds most directly through green banks, PACE financing, utility on-bill programs, and traditional commercial lenders building clean energy lending practices.
3rd Party Investors in DERs, Specific Loan Sources, and Other Financial Support available
The investor universe for commercial and industrial renewable energy project funding has expanded considerably in recent years. Most are not passive buyers who sit around waiting for a pitch; they are actively hunting deals.
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Third-Party Investors Actively Deploying Capital into C&I Clean Energy
Tax Equity Investors
The largest tax equity investors include financial institutions like JPMorgan, Bank of America, and U.S. Bancorp, all of which have dedicated clean-energy tax-credit investment desks. They often need projects to exceed $5 million in total cost for the economics of the transaction to work, but aggregation structures can bring smaller projects into the same financing.
Infrastructure Funds
Infrastructure funds, including companies like Brookfield Renewable Partners and Generate Capital, are currently very active buyers or financiers of distributed-generation and storage assets at commercial and industrial facilities.
Clean Energy Focused Lenders
Clean energy-focused lenders and credit funds provide debt and equity capital to distributed energy projects. For example, HASI is a clean energy-focused lender that invests in distributed energy solutions across the U.S., including on-site and near-site solar and storage systems.
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Loan Products and Direct Financing Mechanisms for C&I Projects
In addition to tax equity and institutional investors, several loan products are available to commercial and industrial customers for financing renewable energy projects.
PACE Financing
The most accessible tool for commercial property owners is Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. C-PACE allows companies to finance solar, storage, and efficiency upgrades via a special assessment tied to the property, repaid via property tax bills over 10-30 years.
Because repayment is attached to the property rather than the borrower, underwriting is simpler, and rates are typically competitive with conventional debt.
C-PACE programs are now active in over 35 states. The PACENation directory is the best starting point for identifying active programs and approved lenders by state.
Green Bank Loans
Green bank loans are another underutilized resource. Green banks like the Connecticut Green Bank, NY Green Bank, and Michigan Saves are quasi-public financing institutions that provide low-cost debt specifically for clean energy projects. They often co-lend alongside private banks, bringing below-market capital within reach of many projects.
On-bill Financing
On-bill financing programs offered by utilities for C&I customers to repay project costs via their monthly utility bill. They are available from a growing number of IOUs and cooperative utilities, especially for energy storage and demand response equipment. The repayment structure minimizes balance sheet impact and simplifies project accounting.
How Microgrid and Resiliency Projects Access Specialized Funding From the Government
Microgrid projects have access to funding opportunities for clean energy that standard solar installations do not, because microgrids serve two purposes: clean generation and critical infrastructure protection.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program offer federal grants for energy resilience projects at facilities that provide public safety or economic continuity services.
DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program is investing more than $10B in grid modernization and microgrid projects, with a healthy allocation of those funds dedicated to industrial and critical-facility hosts.
How to Attract Funding Opportunities for Clean Energy Projects
Funding opportunities for clean energy projects are crucial in the journey towards attaining a reliable and affordable power supply. However, it matters less that you understand the funding landscape if your renewable energy project isn’t structured to attract capital.
Lenders and investors are always looking for the same things, and one such factor is your creditworthiness. A C&I customer with deep credit that executes a long-term PPA or EaaS agreement effectively backstops the entire financing. The better the offtaker credit, the better, as a rule of thumb, the debt and the easier the tax equity.
Stacking incentives makes almost all deals pencil out enough. An ITC project that is financed with C-PACE and a utility rebate will always have an easier time going through than one that relies on any individual incentive.
Tech risk matters too. Established equipment manufacturers and experienced EPCs reduce perceived execution risk, which directly impacts whether tax equity investors and senior lenders will commit. Emerging technologies, including newer microgrid control systems, may require extra due diligence or credit support before they secure financing through traditional channels.
