For single-building owners, Sunlight can manage the project, supervise all rebate and tax applications and act as liason with the client's accountants to maximize tax savings. "We recommend all commercial projects have a procedure for controlling project funds and insurance coverage/bonding through a construction escrow," Wexler says; Sunlight offers such services through a sister company that acts as the escrow agent and trustee for funds.

Sunlight hopes to serve REITs by creating for them, or helping them analyze, different financial models based on specific energy usage at a property and alternative legal structures. "A REIT offers a project pipeline that is more easily financed than a one-off building," Wexler points out. "We are having a more difficult time for one-off projects."

Sunlight "gives REITs the ability to outsource the job of implementing their sustainability plan, so the executives can focus on their core business," Wexler says. "We quarterback the project financing and act as construction escrow agent."

In general, financing is readily available for projects of about one megawatt (approximately $5.5 million) or more, Wexler says. Le Blanc adds that a commercial building needs "a big enough footprint with a big enough solar array on it that we can get financing at competitive rates." Financing structures include new debt, leases and structured tax equity investments. Lenders include traditional banks and private investment funds; very generally, lenders are looking for three years of operating history and a BBB rating from one of the major rating agencies.

One of Sunlight's long-term goals is to add another service for its clients: aggregating and monetizing renewable energy credits, or RECs, through a sister company, Sunlight Planet Capital Markets LLC. A key to this is for California to adopt legislation that would allow RECs to be traded. The state legislature adopted two REC-related bills last year, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both.

"We expect a new bill will be passed in 2010 and, hopefully, it will be signed into law," Wexler says. Once the RECs can be traded, the cash returns for commercial solar installations will increase significantly, Wexler says. "Our ability to monetize our clients' RECs will reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the economic hurdles to solar adoption," the Sunlight Planet CEO says.