Brighte raises $100m to retail solar power

Origin offers a similar service to that proposed by Brighte – it also finances customers' solar panels and lets them pay them off gradually – but has to worry about cannibalising its coal, gas and large-scale renewable energy sales.

That is not a problem for Brighte. "Brighte may be able to edge out the big-gen retailers through a more focused offer tailored around solar and demand management technology," said Tristan Edis, director of Green Energy Markets.

"The big players like Origin offer similar products but, they'll be worried about cutting their own lunch – they'll always be evaluating any smart –energy tech offers to customers against their impact on their portfolio of generators."

Brighte has not yet put together the packages it will offer customers. But when they do Mr Edis said batteries and demand-switching devices will be key to extracting the value difference between low prices when it is sunny and high prices in the evening when power use increases and solar output declines.

Set up in 2015, Brighte was one of the first providers of buy now, pay later finance online for home energy improvements such as solar panels and home batteries.

“Four years ago Brighte changed the solar industry when we introduced a digital point of sale solution. We plan to do it again by providing Australian households a single, seamless energy finance, retailing and revenue solution," Ms McConnell said.

Ms McConnell is banking on customers valuing vertical integration, buying their solar panels batteries and electricity contracts all in one spot.

“What we have achieved in four years is just the beginning. This is a $45 billion per annum addressable market opportunity – of which $3 billion is solar, battery and FCAS [frequency control ancillary, or grid stabilisation - services] – and there is significant room for more growth."

But Mr Edis warned one of the major challenges the business will face is that Australian rooftop solar customers have been very good at "disaggregating" their electricity use, meaning they feel very comfortable separating their rooftop solar from their retailers.

The $100 million series-C capital raise was lead by Grok Ventures, the investment company of Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes - rounded out by existing investors Singapore venture capital firm Qualgro, Airtree Ventures and Kim Jackson and Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital.

Brighte has raised total equity of over $145 million and debt totalling $500 million since 2016, including Australia’s first all-green asset-backed security deal in the Australian public debt market.

The bond allows Brighte to recycle capital provided by National Australia Bank for more unsecured lending for domestic solar panel and battery installations.

It was the first time all the loans in a public market deal have been certified as being green.