SAN FRANCISCO—Sun Edison, a leading solar technology manufacturer and solar energy services provider along with several financial and tech partners, have established a $50 million fund to build a 13.4 megawatt solar portfolio for the State of California prison and hospital systems.

Partners include Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, National Bank of Arizona, and Sol Systems. Sol Systems advised Nationwide Mutual Insurance on the acquisition of the equity in the transaction. SunEdison secured long-term debt for the projects from the National Bank of Arizona. The projects will create local construction jobs that contribute to the local economy and tax base.
“Financing is a critical element of any solar project, and having partners who are willing to innovate with us is critical to our growth," Carlos Domenech, president for SunEdison Capital, said. "We will continue to innovate to help SunEdison's shareholders and finance partners extract more value from our projects and create new opportunities to finance and build distributed generation solar power plants."
These projects mark the first time the companies have worked together on a solar project. The collaborative investment involved the use of innovative financing structures that enable the State of California to reduce energy expenses. The tax equity transaction is representative of Sol Systems' ongoing success in bringing new investors to the booming solar industry, and demonstrates Nationwide's commitment to investing in the communities where its members and employees live and work.

"This technology is critical to our nation's energy future and we are proud to work with an investment leader like Nationwide Mutual and a solar leader like SunEdison," commented Yuri Horwitz, CEO of Sol Systems.
Speaking about the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) commitment to solar electricity, Deborah Hysen, acting director of facility planning, construction and maintenance for the CDCR said; "Solar power has enabled us to diversify our energy use with a source that is better for the environment and less expensive for taxpayers. We already have 37 MW of solar energy installed at our prisons and by the end of 2014, we expect to have over 41 MW of solar energy. At that time, approximately 15% of our total energy consumed will be delivered by solar power at a combined savings over a 20-year period of approximately $84 million, along with a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."