Yotta and Sunstone partner to offer commercial storage solutions

Buildings account for 75% of U.S. electricity consumption and present thousands of opportunities for distributed energy resources in various U.S. markets such as the Northeast. But currently the rooftop commercial and industrial rooftop market has seen just a 4% adoption rate for solar, and less than 1% penetration rate energy storage, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

One of the challenges preventing more businesses from transitioning to clean energy is a lack of low-cost financing availability. Without access to solar loans, businesses have had to choose between paying for the entire system with upfront capital, using third-party sourced capital  or foregoing the project altogether.

Yotta Energy, an Austin, Texas-based rooftop solar inverter and storage solutions provider, announced a partnership with solar financier Sunstone Credit to rapidly deploy more rooftop storage solutions on commercial rooftops.

Under the partnership, commercial customers will be able to easily adopt solar and storage with Yotta Energy licensed contractors using the solar loan solutions of Sunstone Credit. Starting this week, Yotta will become an approved vendor on Sunstone’s platform, making its commercial solar technology and equipment available to the businesses that rely on Sunstone.

The solar finance provider will provide loans of $50,000 to $5 million for Yotta-installed systems by approved contractors, with projects carrying a five to 20-year term length financing package, Susan Tanski, co-founder and head of strategy at Sunstone Credit, told pv magazine USA.

The lender is able to finance projects in all 50 U.S. states, regardless of net metering framework, Tanski said. Sunstone has received over $250 million in loan applications on its platform since launching in late 2021.

Yotta has already helped more than 20 solar developers and installers expand their C&I offerings, and expects to enable more businesses to make the energy transition switch with the new financial offering.

“There has never been a better time for businesses to transition to clean energy, between rising utility prices, increased tax incentives, customer preferences for sustainable businesses, and a need for resilient power access,” said Duncan Hinkle, co-founder and senior vice president of business development at Sunstone.

Yotta’s SL-1000, a 1 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery system, can be paired with solar arrays up to 750 watts of total generating capacity, and can be paired in systems with 60 to 72 cell photovoltaic modules, according to a product sheet.  The battery weighs 56.7 pounds and measures 15.75 inches width by 26.25 inches length, with 4.25 inches of depth.  The storage system is designed to operate at temperatures of -4 F to 114 F.