Search Climate Insights Directory

This case study describes how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) enables a new third-party financing model for solar energy, specifically benefiting low-income households and nonprofits. It highlights the installation of a 12kW solar array at the Watts-Willowbrook Church of Christ in Compton, California, as a primary example of this model in action.

The report "Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2019" analyzes the financing requirements to achieve universal energy access (SDG7) by 2030 in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Uganda. It focuses on the roles of mini-grids, stand-alone solar, and improved cookstoves (ICS), estimating a total aggregate investment need of USD 6.4 billion across the three countries, including USD 1.8 billion specifically to address affordability gaps.

This case study examines Rwanda's efforts to increase access to clean cooking solutions through political will and private sector mobilization, while contextualizing the broader challenge of declining finance and rising numbers of people without clean cooking access in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative argues that existing electricity market designs, based on short-term marginal costs, are ill-suited for a low-carbon transition dominated by variable renewable energy (VRE). The authors propose a bifurcated market model—separating a long-term 'energy market' for commodity production from a short-term 'delivery market' for flexibility—to lower financing costs for capital-intensive assets and provide clearer incentives for flexibility resources like batteries and demand response.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) proposes a new financial vehicle called the Clean Energy Investment Trust (CEIT) to reduce the cost of renewable energy by better aligning project cashflows with the risk profiles of different investors. By unbundling the cashflows of wind and solar projects and targeting long-term, liability-hedging institutional investors, the authors argue that the cost of wind-generated electricity could be reduced by 15-17% compared to traditional utility financing.

The report "Taking the Pulse 2019," commissioned by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), analyzes the financing requirements for achieving universal energy access (SDG 7) in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Uganda. It focuses on off-grid electricity solutions—specifically mini-grids and standalone solar systems—and clean cooking technologies, estimating the total capital needed to bridge existing energy gaps by 2030.