Energea is a Regulation A platform that makes it easy for anyone to invest in solar energy projects with as little as $100. With over $100 million in assets under management and an 10%+ internal rate of return (IRR), the platform is quickly becoming a popular way for retail investors to invest in climate solutions.

Before co-founding Energea, Mike Silvestrini founded one of the largest commercial and industrial solar firms in the U.S. and managed renewable energy funds worth over $500 million in aggregate. His partner, Chris Sattler, also founded a leading deregulated energy supply business with over one million customers.

Energea sells equity in distributed solar projects across the United States, Brazil, and Africa. Each project is structured as its own LLC where investors can purchase shares. The platform programmatically determines the share price based on the project stage to ensure every shareholder realizes the same IRR.

As the projects generate power and revenue, the company covers any expenses and shareholders receive any residual cash flow as a dividend. These dividends can are paid monthly and may be optionally reinvested into the project to benefit from the magic of compounding interest.

The company charges a 1% to 2% management fee on any dividends paid each month (there's no charge if there's no dividend). In addition, there's a 20% to 30% carried interest on investment returns (equity appreciation) above a specified benchmark.

Energea's equity is inherently illiquid, meaning that you cannot easily convert it into cash. Currently, the company requires investors to hold their shares for at least three years, although there are plans to introduce greater liquidity by the end of 2022.

The company also operates in emerging markets and may receive payment in foreign currencies. While its contracts have inflation adjustments and protections built-in, there's always a risk that the company's projects could go sideways and investors could experience losses.