About

Solife is developing a rooftop solar leasing construction for industrial buildings that will provide electricity to the grid in St. Vincent. Using industrial buildings minimises land usage typically required for solar development.

Due to the scarcity of open land spaces, characteristic of small Caribbean island states, Solife proposes a partnership rooftop PV generation model with owners of large rooftop facilities. Owners of such facilities tend to be commercial and/or light industrial operations. Solife will lease the rooftop and connect each installation to the grid. Land scarcity makes this decentralised distribution model highly preferable over other solar farm models. The current feed-in tariff for commercial power in St. Vincent provides an enabling environment for rooftop solar development.

While this business model may be tried and true in other, more mature markets, solar industrial rooftop leasing has only recently come to the fore in small Caribbean island states. Abundance of sunshine in conjunction with land scarcity increases the potential for this model to become leading in the region. The model also facilitates additional revenue generation for owners of large rooftop spaces that would otherwise remain idle and underutilised.

Our support

Having grown into a healthy small business since ideation phase nine years ago, Solife approached GET.invest to help the company scale up and realise its full potential in St. Vincent and neighbouring countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. To achieve this, Solife sought coaching and advice on organisational restructuring and financing. The GET.invest Finance Catalyst has been supporting Solife since October 2020 with a range of advisory services, including access-to-finance and investment strategy advice. To get the company ready for approaching financiers, the Finance Catalyst advisors worked with Solife to validate their business model. Subsequently, Solife received support to identify and engage with financiers, and prepare discussions with the utility, St Vincent Electricity Services Ltd (VINLEC).

The outcome

GET.invest continues to support Solife through the Due Diligence process and in financier negotiations, which are currently ongoing. Solife aims to develop a local portfolio of 10 MW with a mix of rooftop and ground mounted PV systems under an IPP agreement, contributing to decarbonisation in St. Vincent.

Disclaimer: Support to the company is ongoing as of 06-2021. Projected results are subject to change.