This paper is intended to serve as a follow-up resource to the Clean Energy White Paper, which was developed in the Fall of 2016 to encourage conversation about the societal and financial benefits of clean energy investments and explore barriers to such investments.
This briefing paper focuses on solar energy and how to most effectively enable endowments to make investments in solar projects, and the solar energy market as a whole. It provides guidance on three main approaches endowments can utilize to invest in solar: allocating capital across traditional asset classes in the investment portfolio, sponsoring a project by investing funds for its development, and allocating capital to a campus green revolving fund. Universities may use their operating budget to procure solar power from a third-party owned solar project, however that is not covered in this paper, which is focused on endowment investment in solar.
Click here to access the 'Briefing Paper: Options for Endowment Investment in Solar Energy' (pdf).
Development of this white paper was a collective effort of members of the Intentional Endowments Network and others in the field. The following people played critical roles in the research, writing, and review of this document:
- John Chaimanis, Managing Director, Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure
- Georges Dyer, Principal, Intentional Endowments Network
- Nicole Harman, Program Manager, Intentional Endowments Network
- Nick Hylla, Executive Director, Midwest Renewable Energy Association
- Ken Locklin, Director, Impax Asset Management