Transaction signals market confidence and is a major milestone for Qcells' in-house residential solar financing business

IRVINE, Calif., May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Qcells, a pioneer in complete clean energy solutions and a leader in the U.S. solar market, today announced EnFin by Qcells (EnFin), its residential solar financing platform, completed its first asset-backed securities (ABS) transaction totaling $252.86 million. The transaction comprises bonds backed by thousands of consumer loans used to finance residential solar installations. RBC Capital Markets acted as the sole structuring advisor and bookrunner, and Santander served as co-manager in the transaction.

"This deal signals confidence in the Qcells brand within the solar financing sector and in the broader capital markets," said Alex Kaplan, EnFin's President and CEO. "EnFin is the only financing platform in the market backed by a major manufacturer, and we benefit from Qcells' trusted reputation for high-quality equipment and its significant investment to build a sustainable solar supply chain in the U.S. With our seamless point-of-sale technology, extensive installer relationships and scalable services, EnFin is ready to support homeowners across the country who want to go solar with reliable and attainable financing."

In addition to the recent ABS transaction, EnFin has closed two revolving warehouse transactions totaling $500 million of committed capacity. The first warehouse was closed with RBC in April 2023 and the second with Santander in January 2024, each for $250 million.

EnFin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qcells, began pilot lending operations in the latter half of 2022 and officially launched in January of 2023. Since launch, EnFin has accumulated approximately 18,000 consumer loan contracts with an aggregate principal balance of more than $800 million. Loans under the EnFin program are made through a partnership with Hatch Bank, whose national lending charter has enabled EnFin to be active in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

The platform offers a number of unique value propositions to its customers that leverage its connection with Qcells. For instance, qualified homeowners can benefit from a 30-year performance warranty option on select Qcells modules when financed with EnFin.  Additionally, EnFin enables residential customers to create further value from their solar and battery storage installations by connecting them with other Qcells incentive programs through which they can participate in grid services offerings and monetize solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) produced by their systems. 

Providing competitive financing for solar and battery storage systems is part of Qcells' long-term strategy to become a one-stop shop and offer a full suite of clean energy solutions to the market. In pursuit of this goal, in January 2024 EnFin launched a third-party-ownership (TPO) financing offering which provides power purchase agreement (PPA) and lease options to homeowners who want to use solar energy without purchasing a solar or solar + battery storage system.

With the announcement of this transaction, EnFin is proving the sustainability of its business model through its diversified sources of financing and stable, high-quality loan originations.

"It's exciting to see Qcells grow in the residential solar financing space," said Justin Lee, CEO of Qcells. "This first ABS transaction truly reflects investor confidence and showcases EnFin as a unique value proposition. Ultimately, our success in this area will help to accelerate the clean energy transition by making rooftop solar and battery systems more accessible."

About Qcells
Qcells is one of the world's leading clean energy companies, recognized for its established reputation as a manufacturer of high-performance, high-quality solar cells and modules, portfolio of intelligent storage systems, and growing international pipeline of large-scale renewable energy projects. Qcells also provides renewable electricity retail services and packages to end customers across the world. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea (Global Executive HQ) with its diverse international manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Malaysia, and South Korea. Qcells offers Completely Clean Energy through the full spectrum of photovoltaic products, storage solutions, renewable electricity contracting and large-scale solar power plants. Through its growing global business network spanning North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and the Middle East, Qcells provides excellent services and long-term partnerships to its customers in the utility, commercial, governmental and residential markets. For more information, visit: https://qcells.com/us/.

Safe-Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release and Qcells' operations and business outlook, contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Qcells does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Hanwha Q CELLS America Inc.