Page 19 - Solar

Questions and Answers

Why is the Solar 21 fund an Ethical
Investment?

In the event of death of a pension investor, the shares will be
The target fund size of Solar 21 is €500,000,000 or an annual
offered to existing or new investors so that the investment may
output 125MW of renewable energy production. This green be liquidated and death or retirement benefits can be paid.
energy production will avoid the emissions of millions of tones Alternatively, the estate of the deceased may be able to
of carbon dioxide, equaling the photosynthesizing effect of over
continue to draw an income from the investment. In the event
12,000,000 trees!
of early retirement the investment structure may be converted to

How does the Investment work?
an A(M)RF and distributions may be drawn as income.

What effect will climate change have on solar
Your funds are combined with bank lending to purchase
photovoltaic solar farms to provide renewable energy to the installations in Italy?

national grid for a Feed-in-tariff guaranteed by the EU and Insofar as climate change is predictable, it is expected that the
national governments. The returns from the sales to the national
grid are re-distributed to your investment via a fixed 10% South of Italy may be subject to longer hotter periods of
drought. The negative effect on solar farms in this case would
annual coupon paid annually in arrears.
be due to higher average temperatures but there would be no
How is the 10% annual coupon paid?
reduction in direct sunlight.

What if Italy has an unusually cloudy year?
The coupon is paid via an annual distribution of 10% of your
Solar 21 investment fund to your pension fund bank account or
It is clear that greater cloud cover would result in a reduction in
nominated account for non-pension investors. The distribution output and a corresponding reduction in sales. However, while
is calculated as simple interest based on your initial investment
amount.
notable variances can occur in certain months compared with
previous years, overall the average annual sunlight hitting Italy

What about Tax?
remains consistent. The irradiation assumptions for the financial
model for each plant are based on several independent yield
Annual distributions to non-pension investors are structured as a
analyses that compare data over many decades from which a
loan and share agreement and as such will not be subject to tax conservative average figure is used.
for 10 years, thereafter returns are subject to Capital Gains Tax.
What security and insurance measures are in
Pension investors are exempt from tax on returns.
place to protect production at the Solar
What is the term of the Investment?
farms?
The investment is available in 5-year tranches up to a maximum
All solar farms are fully insured with an “all risk” policy that also
of 20 years.
covers loss of production up to 12 months. All plants have
Is my investment tied to one Solar farm?
extensive security alarm systems, including 24 hour CCTV, remote

monitoring and response to alarms by local police.
No. Individual investor funds are pooled and diversified across
the portfolio of Solar farms. The 10% coupon is independent of How long does it take to construct a typical

the production of individual farms.
1 MW solar farm?

What happens if I die before the investment It takes approximately 3 months from start of construction to

matures?
grid connection.

For non-pension investors, in the event of the death of a sole Can I retire before the end of the

investor before the Maturity Date, the investment will continue investment term?
to the Maturity Date in the name of the executor or

administrator according to the usual probate rules. Early exits Yes. It is possible to switch from being an investor to a retiree
may be possible but are at the discretion of the Fund Manager.
during the investment term. If this option is selected the 10%

annual coupon instead of being investment return can now be
taken as annual income.

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