The Oakapple Renewable Energy project is a series of PV systems installed on a new build family single homes. The project raised 480,000 GBP via debt crowdfunding platform Abundance Investment Ltd to purchase 435 kW of PV installations. The project received generous support from a Feed-in Tariff support scheme.
Crowdfunding platform uses debentures
Abundance used debentures for this project, which are long-term unsecured loans to a company which will be repaid at a specific date. Abundance also provides ongoing services in relation to the debentures, including acting as registrar, arranging payment of cash returns to the debenture holders and communication information back to the investors. Projects on Abundance could often offer individual investors returns on investment that were higher than regular savings account and higher than the inflation rate, making these investments very attractive.
Interest between 7.4% to 8.6% for investors
In this example Oakapple will repay it debenture after 20 years and throughout that period will pay investors between 7.4 percent and 8.6 percent interest per year in twice-yearly payments. The project is listed in SolarPower Europe`s new report about successful solar PV business cases. (HCN)
Also check our exclusive interview with the author of SolarPower Europe`s report:http://www.pveurope.eu/News/Markets-Money/Mitigating-financing-risks-is-key
Other successful PV business cases in Europe:
http://www.pveurope.eu/News/Installation/Exemplary-self-consumption-project-on-French-dairy-farm
