Home › Newsroom › Financing & Contracts
Financing & Contracts · Week 48 of 52

What a letter of intent for a solar project should say — and why lenders ask for it

Why investors financing a solar platform ask for customer LOIs, what a good LOI contains, and how it protects the customer as much as the provider.

Before capital is released to build a site, the investors behind a solar platform want to see that customers are real. A letter of intent is how a customer says 'yes, if the terms are as described' without committing to a contract. Here is what it should contain.

Key facts

  • An LOI is non-binding on price but states the intended scope, term and conditions.
  • Lenders and DFIs use LOIs to confirm a pipeline before releasing construction capital.
  • For the customer, an LOI reserves a place in the rollout and fixes the terms being offered.
  • A good LOI is one page.

What it contains

  • The site and the load (from the audit)
  • The intended system: solar kWp, battery kWh, cold storage tonnes
  • The intended term (5–10 years) and the indicative monthly fee or purchase price
  • The conditions: satisfactory audit, contract terms, financing close
  • A target installation window
  • Signatures from both sides, non-binding except on confidentiality

Why it protects you

An LOI locks the offer you were shown — fee, scope, timeline — so it cannot drift while the provider raises money. It also puts you in the queue: Phase 1 sites are built in LOI order.

What it isn't

Not a contract, not a payment, not a guarantee. If the audit or financing changes the numbers, either side can walk away. The full service agreement follows once terms are final.

Want a place in the Phase 1 rollout?

Talk to Frontières Bay

Frequently asked

Do you require an LOI before an audit?

No — the audit comes first; the LOI comes after the proposal, if you want a place in the rollout.

Can our lawyer review it?

Please — it is one page and written to be reviewed in an hour.

Free energy auditSavings calculator