Powering Progress: Launching Property Insurance

Jason Kaminsky, CEO, kWh Analytics

kWh has exciting news to share. This week we are introducing property insurance for renewable energy projects, backed by capacity partner Aspen Insurance. This new product plays a vital role in the company’s mission to power the growth of the clean energy industry - an industry critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately fighting climate change. 

Having worked in environmental finance prior to joining kWh, I witnessed first hand the struggles this rapidly growing industry faced securing capital to develop and maintain assets, and recognized the critical role insurance plays in the shift to a decarbonized economy. Although I didn’t go into my career thinking I would end up in insurance, insurance solves problems, and this is why we transformed kWh from a data company into an insurance provider. I’m honored to be a part of a highly experienced team of former renewable energy asset owners, bankers, equipment designers, underwriters, and program managers at kWh, all deeply committed to making a change - a team that knows renewable energy assets better than anyone and holds deep relationships with market actors across the value chain.

I was recently asked if our company is an insurtech. After braving the floor of Insurtech Connect in Las Vegas this year, I can confidently say “yes.” We are using data to improve underwriting and solve big problems. As the custodians of the largest proprietary database of solar asset performance, kWh analyzes loss data from $50B of exposed assets to provide insights into risk management and selection. This database allows us to take a novel approach to pricing, managing, and ultimately mitigating the new risks. 

However, we are not “new” – we’ve been at this for ten years. Our first product, the Solar Revenue Put, now insures over $4 billion in projects. Our new property offering is a natural extension of this platform. Using our database to bring new sophistication to the assessment of property risk and exposures for renewable assets, our property insurance introduces much-needed capacity to a rapidly growing industry at a time when traditional carriers are pulling back.

I am grateful and humbled to work with an experienced, mission-driven team at the forefront of innovation in an emerging industry. And I remain firm in my commitment to uphold the company’s mission to fight climate change through underwriting products that enable the financing of renewable assets. 

Sincerely, 

Jason Kaminsky, CEO

kWh Analytics 

PVTech's The Weekend Read: Financial risks of solar

Full article available on PVTech.

“Data analyst Hao Shen is following his growing suspicion. “We thought that more modern photovoltaic systems would be more reliable and efficient than those commissioned 10 years ago.” Shen is the head of data products at data analytics and climate insurance firm kWh-Analytics.

The company has compiled performance data from the portfolios of 15 of the 20 largest system operators in the United States. It then compared the revenue reports prepared before the plants went online and the actual production data. That comparison, covering 30% of ground-mounted plants in the United States, showed “just the opposite is true,” Shen says. The discrepancy between predictions and real output has increased.”

Norton Rose Fulbright's Currents Episode 190: Climate Insurance and the Solar Industry

Originally posted in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Currents Podcast.

Jason Kaminsky, CEO of kWh Analytics, joins us to discuss the company’s $20M Series B fundraise and the emergence of climate insurance. We discuss what the fundraise means for the industry as a whole, why climate insurance hasn’t emerged yet and the challenges the insurance industry faces when insuring renewables, solutions he has seen on the insurance side, the partnerships that are happening in the industry, the improvement in modeling on the underwriting side and more.

kWh Analytics Raises $20M to Deliver Insurance for Our Climate; Launches 2nd Product to Insure Renewable Energy

Originally posted on Business Wire. Additional coverage on Axios, PV Tech, Reinsurance News, and Coverager.

Lacuna Sustainable Investments leads Series B round to accelerate kWh Analytics’ growth and build on its leadership in developing insurance solutions that prevent climate change. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (FEBRUARY 8, 2022) - kWh Analytics, the leader in Climate Insurance, announced today that it raised $20 million to continue the organization’s expansion.

The capital raise reflects the increasing focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, particularly within the insurance industry. While many insurance companies are addressing ESG by divesting from fossil fuels, kWh Analytics has taken a proactive approach by developing data-driven insurance specifically for zero-carbon assets. 

“The most recent 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was clear: it’s a ‘code red’ for humanity,” stated Richard Matsui, CEO of kWh Analytics. “The world needs more renewable energy to mitigate climate change, and insurance is key to ensuring these projects get built. This new category of “Climate Insurance” is a massive, once-in-a-generation market opportunity; kWh Analytics is proud to be a market leader in this space.” 

Matthias Weber, the former Chief Underwriting Officer of Swiss Re, noted, “kWh Analytics has filled a critical gap in renewable energy insurance, using an innovative, data-first approach. This fundraise underscores their position as the leader in this space.” 

As the custodian of the world’s largest database of renewable energy asset performance, kWh Analytics has emerged as the leading provider of Climate Insurance by leveraging its real-world data to power its underwriting. This innovative model has been widely successful: the company’s first product, the Solar Revenue Put, now protects over $3 billion of solar power plants, while delivering a best-in-class loss ratio. Now, kWh Analytics is proud to announce the launch of its highly anticipated Property Product, which provides all-risk coverage against physical damage for solar, storage, and wind projects. Learn more at https://www.kwhanalytics.com/property.

“As an investor in renewable energy power plants, we understand firsthand the challenges that investors face in procuring cost competitive insurance,” said Brad Bauer, Partner at Lacuna Sustainable Investments. “On top of that, today’s standard insurance offerings miss important  nuances specific to renewable energy equipment, like the impact of microcracks and hotspots on performance. That’s what makes this fundraise and product launch so important -- not only is kWh Analytics supplying more insurance, but they are innovating on the existing products by using their proprietary data.”

With the new funding, kWh Analytics plans to develop additional solutions to support solar, wind, and storage asset owners and investors. The company will also bring these solutions to new international markets. These new offerings will continue to revolutionize underwriting and pricing within the renewable energy insurance space by leveraging real-world data. Notably, this  investment follows ongoing collaboration with leading global re/insurers, including Swiss Re. 

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About kWh Analytics

kWh Analytics is the leading provider of Climate Insurance by using our proprietary database of renewable energy project performance of over 300,000 operating assets -- the world's largest database -- to underwrite insurance policies for renewable energy, backed by the world’s most trusted insurers. To-date, we have insured over $3 billion of American solar power plants with our first insurance product, the Solar Revenue Put. kWh Analytics is funded by venture capital and the US Department of Energy. To learn more, please visit www.kwhanalytics.com, connect with us on LinkedIn, or follow @kWhAnalytics on Twitter. 

kWh Analytics hires Property Insurance team

SAN FRANCISCO – kWh Analytics has expanded its team to establish an innovative property insurance product for renewable energy assets with the addition of two experienced insurance professionals. Issac McLean joins as the Head of Property and Darryl Harding joins as Senior Underwriter.

“As documented in our 2021 Solar Risk Assessment report, the renewable energy property insurance industry has significant room for growth in understanding and underwriting risks for this asset class. Our new team will allow kWh Analytics to offer a new, data-driven Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance line that underwrites risk using real data from over 30% of the US operating fleet, the world’s largest database of operating assets.” said Richard Matsui, Chief Executive Officer. “Isaac and Darryl will expand our capabilities to meet the needs of the solar community, while cementing kWh Analytics’ ability to achieve its goal of Insuring the Energy Transition”

Isaac McLean joined kWh Analytics from ICAT Managers, where he served as a Senior Product Manager. In this role, he led the development and launch of several successful insurance products and teams, including multiple P&C programs. Previous to ICAT Managers, Isaac worked at Safeco as a claims examiner and product analyst. Isaac brings over 18 years of experience in insurance, underwriting, sales, marketing, and product development. 

Darryl Harding joined kWh Analytics from Hartford Steam Boiler, a Munich Re company, where he served as a Senior Production Underwriter and supported the development of their Solar Property and Shortfall product lines. Prior to his role at Hartford Steam Boiler, he served as an underwriter for commercial lines at The Hartford. Darryl has over 10 years of experience underwriting insurance products and collaborating with brokers to find innovative solutions for insureds.  

For more information on the kWh Analytics team, visit https://www.kwhanalytics.com/.

kWh Analytics expands Solar Revenue Put team

kWh Analytics has expanded its team to accelerate the adoption of the Solar Revenue Put with the addition of Sam Barton, Colin Schneider, and Alex Deng, three experienced business development professionals with significant knowledge of renewable energy project finance.

“2020 set a new record for market adoption of the Solar Revenue Put, which we believe will be exceeded in 2021. We are expanding our team to meet the needs of our clients within the hyper-competitive solar industry,” said Richard Matsui, Chief Executive Officer. “Our new hires’ insights will help advance the growth of the Solar Revenue Put and kWh Analytics’ position as the insurer for the Energy Transition.”

Sam Barton joined kWh Analytics from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where he served as Vice President of Project Finance. Previous to SVB, Sam held roles at Tesla and SolarCity, supporting structured finance for renewable energy projects. Sam brings over 10 years of experience in solar project finance and business development. He holds a BS in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

Colin Schneider joined kWh Analytics after serving as the Head of Solar Acquisitions at Gardner Capital and the Vice President of the Renewable Energy Infrastructure Group at Bridge Bank, a group he helped found. Colin has a wealth of experience leading the development of millions of dollars of solar assets over 10 years. He holds a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University.  

Alex Deng joined kWh Analytics from Advanced Power where he supported project finance, acquisitions, and development. Before Advanced Power, Alex worked at Soltage and the Glenfarne Group, supporting renewable energy project development and asset management. He also holds a BA in Economics from New York University. 

For more information on the kWh Analytics team, visit https://www.kwhanalytics.com/.

CleanCapital's Expert's Only Episode 87 with Jason Kaminsky

Our COO, Jason Kaminsky, joined Clean Capital for an episode of Expert’s Only. He discusses the next phase of solar and best practices to use data to better manage assets and ensure predictable revenue. Jason and Jon spoke about the next phase of solar and the cutting edge advancements they’re making in data management.

“Our team enjoys working closely with kWh, as they’re a market leader in solar risk management, and we’re thrilled to welcome Jason to the show.” - Jon Powers, Clean Capital

kWh Analytics Named to 2021 Global Cleantech 100

Full report available at the Cleantech 100.

“Out of thousands of innovators from across the globe, kWh Analytics, the market leader in solar risk management, was named a 2021 Global Cleantech 100 Company by Cleantech Group. Delivering solutions that will take us from climate chaos to transformation, the 100 companies on the list represent the private, independent and for-profit companies best positioned to contribute to a moredigitized, de-carbonized and resource-efficient future. This is the 12 th edition of the widely respected annual guide.”