Sunwealth Wins Environmental Finance’s 2022 Bond Award for Innovation

On March 31st, Environmental Finance announced that Sunwealth’s Solar Impact Fund has won the 2022 Bond Award for Innovation in Bond Structure (Social Bond). Environmental Finance’s Bond Awards recognize and celebrate global leaders in green, social, and sustainability bond deals and leading market participants.  Other 2022 awardees include World Bank, JP Morgan, Bank of America, HSBC and the IFC.

As demand for ESG funds and green bonds hits record highs, the Bond Award for Innovation highlights Sunwealth’s innovative approach to bringing capital to underserved markets. According to the Environmental Finance write-up of the award, Bond Awards judges picked out Sunwealth's solar fund for its "interesting focus on solar,” noting: 

“The fund bundled a variety of solar projects into a single investment vehicle, enabling projects that vary in size, the market they serve (e.g. nonprofit organisations, small and medium-sized businesses, or low- and middle-income communities), and building type (for example, multifamily housing, schools, commercial buildings, faith organisations, government properties, and community facilities), while providing job creation and revenues for small businesses (local solar developers and installers).

The Solar Impact Bond structure was ‘well documented,’ according to judges, and allowed private investors to finance specific, community-based, clean energy projects ranging from 5kW to 2MW. It leveraged federal renewable energy tax credits and state-based incentives, and lowered the participation threshold for investors, to a minimum of $25,000.”

Sunwealth's Solar Impact Fund has deployed close to $100 million in community-scale solar projects combatting climate change and inequality – creating clean energy access, savings, and jobs in underserved communities while delivering strong, stable fixed-income returns to investors. 

"The award winners provide a wonderful snapshot of the spectacular innovation and activity occurring in the sustainable finance market today, and Environmental Finance is delighted to congratulate all the winners for their success – and thank the judges for their hard-working in reviewing the hundreds of entries," said Ahren Lester, assistant editor of Environmental Finance.

“Community-based solar represents a trillion-dollar market opportunity with the potential to bring clean energy, jobs, and savings to our communities. The Solar Impact Fund unlocks that potential for investors in a pooled structure that reduces risk while delivering strong environmental, social, and financial returns,” said Jon Abe, CEO of Sunwealth. “We’re proud to be recognized by Environmental Finance for the Bond’s innovative structure and approach.”

Read Environmental Finance’s full write-up of Sunwealth’s Innovation Award.