Over $100 million in funding went to various types of solar service startups in just the last few weeks alone. The bulk has been for equipment and manufacturing companies, but startups focusing on solar service business models are getting more cash, too. Tioga Energy, a solar service provider company, tells us it has raised another $4 million of its series A round from Nth Power, bringing its total funding to $14 million.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company launched in June with $10 million in series A funding from NGEN Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, RockPort Capital, DFJ Frontier and Kirlan Ventures. The company focuses on creating solar service contracts called Purchase Power Agreements (PPAs), where the company will own and operate a solar installation and sell the energy to the customer at a fixed rate. PPAs have become an increasingly popular business model because the contract eliminates the upfront cost for the customer to build and own the solar service system.
We’re not sure how newcomer Tioga will differentiate itself from some of the other solar service startups that operate solar PPAs. But there are definitely quite a few out there. Recurrent Energy, SunEdison, and MMA Renewable Ventures are all solar service startups that have emerged to deliver solar PPAs.
