Tesla (TSLA) closes equity sale of 38,000 residential solar installations from SolarCity

Since Tesla acquired SolarCiy in November of last year, the company has been trying to solidify the solar installer’s financials. They continued to move from leasing and offering power purchase agreements (PPA) to directly selling the systems and in December, they sold 26,000 home residential systems and 19 commercial and industrial solar projects that they owned under their plans

Today, they confirmed having sold another significant part of their solar portfolio: equity in another 36,000 solar systems.

PGGM, The Netherlands’ second biggest pension fund, announced the cash-equity transaction today.

Erik van de Brake, Head of Infrastructure at PGGM, said about the announcement:

“Our agreement with SolarCity, under which PGGM will invest in a large portfolio of solar energy systems, is a new link in a chain of investments in sustainable energy. PGGM Infrastructure took the first step in 2010 with a direct investment in Walney, an offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The SolarCity portfolio now brings us into virtual contact with the end users of alternative energy: 38 thousand American households.”

Tesla confirmed the transaction with Electrek and while they didn’t disclose the total value of the deal, it’s similar in size to the deal with Sammons Renewable Energy (SRE) in December, which was worth $241 million.

In exchange for the cash, PGGM will then receive the revenue streams from those 36,000 residential solar installations.

The money will likely help Tesla transition SolarCity’s operations under Tesla’s brand as it introduces new solar products, like new solar panels and its solar roof tiles.

It also comes just as Tesla is about to release its first quarter financial results. The deal isn’t likely to have an impact on the financials since it appears to have been closed during the second quarter 2017, but it could give investors a better idea of Tesla’s direction with SolarCity’s solar portfolio and contribute to Tesla’s overall cash position going forward.