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Project Polo will deploy commercial-scale PV and storage to create integrated virtual power plants across 27 states.
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) today announced the closing of a $289.7 million loan guarantee to Sunwealth Holdco 18 LLC’s (Sunwealth) Project Polo. The loan guarantee will finance the deployment of up to 1,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and battery energy storage systems (BESS) located primarily at commercial and industrial facilities and integrated across up to 27 states. Today’s announcement underscores President Biden and Vice President Harris’ commitment to expanding access to affordable renewable energy and high-quality jobs in renewable energy sectors across the United States. Sunwealth submitted its application to LPO in October 2021.
Sunwealth is a commercial solar financier, developer, and owner-operator based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sunwealth has a ten-year operating history serving commercial solar markets and has experienced zero defaults over this time. Sunwealth has partnered with SYSO Technologies of Boston, Massachusetts, to provide its distributed energy management software platform, which will allow the project to function as a virtual power plant (VPP).
Systems would be deployed across commercial buildings, multi-family properties, community solar, and other sites across up to 27 states, with an estimated aggregate capacity of 168 MW of PV and 16.8 MW (33.6 MWh) of BESS. Sunwealth estimates the project will lead to the avoidance of up to 4.07 million metric tons of carbon over the project’s lifetime—helping slash harmful emissions that jeopardize public health and pollute local ecosystems.
This project is expected to create approximately 3,700 jobs, including over approximately 1,900 solar and storage installation jobs and over 1,700 operations and maintenance jobs.
LPO borrowers are required to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP). CBPs ensure borrowers meaningfully engage with communities and labor groups to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of residents and workers. Sunwealth provides their employees salary and benefits that target a minimum of 120% of the living wage in each office location. Sunwealth has created “Sunwealth University,” a four-tier internal training program for employees to promote advancement through the company. Sunwealth University provides job-specific training, courses on project finance and development, and more. Sunwealth is also committed to building its relationships with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (both national and locals) and local solar nonprofits and trade groups to integrate them into their developer workforce. The company hosts events with local trades and provides grants to local nonprofit training organizations, such as Green City Force, Emerald Cities, and Browning the Green Space.
Deploying clean energy resources in disadvantaged communities without access to traditional financing is a key component of Sunwealth’s mission and strategy. Sunwealth has historically deployed over approximately 40% of its systems to benefit disadvantaged communities. For this project, Sunwealth aims to install between 20% and 50% of PV plus BESS in disadvantaged communities.
As the U.S. economy rapidly decarbonizes and domestic manufacturing scales up, spurred by the incentives in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the grid will face an increase in demand. VPPs can help facilitate the clean energy transition by optimizing resource utilization and coordinating demand response. VPPs aggregate electrified, grid-connected devices such as solar-plus-storage systems, grid-interactive efficient buildings, air conditioners, and electric vehicles and their associated charging infrastructure. Sunwealth’s distributed energy resources (DERs) in concert with SYSO’s software platform will store and generate significant amounts of energy. VPPs often provide energy at a lower levelized cost than traditional options, doing so more cleanly while offering consumers greater resilience during grid disruptions.
This project includes both behind-the-meter DERs and community solar projects, primarily targeting commercial and industrial properties. Project sites include building rooftops, parking lots, and underutilized land parcels across the United States. The Sunwealth VPP offers advanced management of PV and BESS, enhanced forecasting of PV production and coincident peaks, and aggregation and dispatch of DERs. The software manages the PV and BESS as a VPP to support grid stability and resilience while also generating additional revenue by enabling participation of DERs in VPP programs and wholesale markets.
The loan guarantee is offered through LPO’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure.
Across all LPO’s programs, DOE has attracted 182 applications for projects across the country totaling over $278.9 billion in requested loans and loan guarantees, as of December 2024. For more information about Sunwealth’s Project Polo, read the conditional commitment blog post and visit LPO’s portfolio project page.
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