Our Approach

At OneEnergy we develop, own and operate renewable energy projects across the United States. As a result, we are involved in every stage, from greenfield development to operations and maintenance.

Building a solar project from the ground up requires a consistent, strategic, and community-minded approach. At OneEnergy, we welcome collaboration and flexibility, an outlook which sets us apart from other solar developers and contributes to our longevity. Our multi-disciplinarian team and extensive in-house capabilities enable us to move adeptly through each step in the solar development process, addressing any technical, legal, or property challenges as they arise. Throughout this process we work closely with local host communities, agency stakeholders and utility companies. We strive to build strong relationships with our constituents to ensure long-term sustainable partnerships.

Site Identification

Every solar project OneEnergy develops first requires identifying the right project location.

To find physically compatible and cost-competitive sites for solar projects, our development team leverages a unique blend of Geographic Information System (GIS) data, policy analysis, and technical knowledge for distribution and transmission electric infrastructure. Our process is designed to quickly synthesize large amounts of information and has successfully identified sites in key electricity markets across the United States.

We pride ourselves on building both the technical and interpretive resources needed to identify sites because it affords us the opportunity to start building relationships with landowners as early as possible. OneEnergy is committed to delivering value to our partners, and the first and most important partnership for every solar project is with the landowner.

Development

One of the first steps in turning an idea into an active solar power project is site development.

We specialize in greenfield development, selecting emerging market opportunities, building portfolios of project sites, and advancing all due diligence work required to turn an idea into a solar project ready for construction. With a multidisciplinary team and in-house capabilities, we build solid partnerships and take projects through initial site analyses, interconnection studies, energy production studies, site optimization, environmental impact reviews, zoning and permit reviews, and construction planning.

Throughout each step, we partner in close collaboration with local host communities, agency stakeholders, utility companies, product suppliers, contractors, financial firms, and owner/operators. We build strong relationships with our constituents to ensure we create long-term sustainable partnerships which assist in our overall mission to make clean energy ubiquitous and accessible. But this is only where the process begins...

Power Sales

When it comes to arranging for the sale of our produced and stored energy, innovation and collaboration are key.

OneEnergy is unique in our ability and willingness to customize Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) to fit clients' individual situations and the realities of the solar energy market. We understand that in the renewable energy business there is no one-size-fits-all solution. As our team works to develop solar energy projects across disparate jurisdictions and in regulated and unregulated environments, we often have to get creative in order to succeed. That could mean, for example, unbundling the actual energy and renewable energy credits to meet our partner’s investment criteria.

In some cases, we might also transfer the energy through a transmission service provider for delivery to a distribution utility company. Collaboration is another important part of OneEnergy's sales agreement process. Working closely with utility companies and corporate partners allows us to design an energy delivery solution that meets everyone’s requirements and brings us closer to our ultimate goal: delivering long-term energy cost savings and stability to our utility, corporate and institutional customers.

Permitting

We take the permitting process seriously at OneEnergy, since we expect our solar energy farms to be part of a community for decades.

The permitting effort includes performing all the necessary environmental surveys, wetland studies, wildlife and habitat studies, stormwater studies, soils analyses, flood zone reviews and transmission and distribution impact studies that are required to develop commercial solar project sites. At this stage, our team also completes a conceptual engineering package to design the solar panel array footprint, illustrating all site constraints and an electrical design which depicts the electrical point of interconnection.

Before our team performs any of these tasks, however, we hold preliminary informational meetings with permitting agencies and stakeholder groups. This creates a platform for the exchange of ideas and helps foster strong relationships with our business and community partners.

Engineering, Procurement and Construction

The OneEnergy team initiates each solar energy project with a deliberate focus on safety, quality, schedule and budget.

Exceptional project management and clear communication also help set the stage for delivering results. We manage the detailed technical design, procurement and construction of our projects and use our advanced in-house technical skills. Certain solar projects may also require partnering closely with experts who provide these services across the United States.

We mobilize our sites in a consistent manner with staging for efficient execution. Once a commercial solar plant is placed in service, our delivery team performs a rigorous evaluation to ensure the facility is performing at or above modeled expectations.

Financing

Investment grade financing is essential to advance any commercial solar energy project beyond its development stage into construction and, ultimately, successful operations.

OneEnergy Renewables enjoys strong relationships with multiple established financiers. These large-scale financial players bring existing tax equity, traditional equity, and project debt solutions to support construction and long-term operations of our solar installations.

We work with our financing counterparties to deliver optimal value with the goal of delivering high-quality solar facilities that will continuously produce clean energy for 40 years or more.

Operations

When it comes to performance of our renewable energy projects, we hold intentionally high expectations.

 After all, investment returns are only as reliable as your asset management partner, so this is where performance takes center stage. Because OneEnergy is uniquely positioned as both the developer and owner of our solar projects, we adopt an owner’s perspective. This means our maintenance team is constantly measuring actual performance relative to technical and financial projections.

As you can imagine, solar energy facilities require continuous care and attention, and we work hard to perform preventative maintenance, meet banking obligations, and provide the ongoing attention required to keep our solar plants operating at expected levels.