Lightstar Solar
Development Funding

Providing capital to fill funding gaps during solar project development

Lightstar Acquisitions and Development Partnerships

Lightstar buys early-mid stage development projects and provides project funding to development partners.

Development

Lightstar provides funds for costs at various stages of development. The goal is to get projects in the development stage through hurdles such as permitting, surveys, and reporting.

We help cover the costs of:

  • Site Plan/Electrical Line Drawings

  • Boundary/Topo Surveys

  • Landscape plan with Visual Impact Assessment/ Photosimulation

  • Wetlands Delineation

  • Stormwater Prelim. Analysis & Design SWPPP

  • Federal/State Wetlands Permits

  • Threatened & Endangered Species Studies

  • Cultural Heritage Survey

  • State Historic Preservation Application and Process

  • Geotechnical Investigation and Reporting

  • Surveys, including Boundary/Topo

  • Assessments, including Environmental and Visual Impact

  • Permits, including Federal/State Wetlands

Interconnection

Costs related to interconnection frequently derail projects, mostly due to elongated timelines and unclear communication from utilities. Lightstar wants to ensure a viable project doesn’t get stalled at this phase with our dedicated interconnection fund.

We help cover the costs of:

  • Interconnection Deposits

  • Preliminary Study

  • Application Submittal

  • Impact Study

  • Easement Process

Engineering, Procurement and Construction

Lightstar’s goal is to get new projects in the ground, so our engineering, procurement, and construction teams (EPC) work collaboratively with its origination, policy, and development teams to ensure Ligthstar is aligned with farmers and landowners on expectations, policy regulations, and federal, state, and local laws.

Lightstar utilizes full turnkey EPC providers, strong contracts, and a thorough step-by-step process to remove risks from the landowner. By working collaboratively throughout the entire process, Ligthstar completes projects on time and within budget.

Full Service, Turnkey Providers For All

Collaboration, Every Step of the Way

Lightstar’s engineering team works closely with the development team early in the project life cycle to produce preliminary designs and models so our teams and landowners understand what the sites will look like and produce in the future. Our engineers are also responsible for coordinating utility activities and managing any third-parties as projects progress,ensuring our specifications and design standards are met for all projects.

Lightstar’s construction team is responsible for providing input during the site development stage regarding the buildability, feasibility, and estimated costs of potential projects. Once the projects are accepted and all development closing items are complete, the projects are handed off to the wider EPC team. By having oversight along the entire project lifecycle, Lightstar can ensure landowners are well equipped with all of the information they need.

Funding Timeline

Offering Solutions & Support

We recognize that development funding is hard to come by, and often comes with a high cost of capital that creates difficulties for small developers to develop projects. In partnership with Magnetar Capital, Lightstar is filling a need for dependable, lower cost capital in our core markets to enable more projects to get through
the development stage and support market growth.

We provide a funding process and relationship developers are looking for.

  • Flexible transaction structures

  • Efficient processes

  • Experienced developers

  • Reliable, experienced funding partner

Being both a developer and owner/operator of solar projects enables Lightstar to truly step into the shoes of the developers it provides funding to. We understand the hurdles facing a project along the entire lifecycle and are here to share our expertise, lessons learned and network to get a project to successful completion. We also view projects we fund as potential additions to our portfolio.

Existing Partners

Get in Touch

Meet Sam Bailly
Director of Acquisitions

As a Development Manager, Sam facilitates all aspects of community solar project development. Sam works closely with landowners, utilities, state and county agencies, Towns, and community members to ensure that projects are developed with all stakeholders in mind. Additionally, Sam contributes to Lightstar’s market entry strategies and analytics.