Palmetto Clean Technology, a Charlotte based company that facilitates and finances residential solar and home electrification projects, says it raised $1.2 billion in 2024 and another $300 million this month. It plans to take on another $500 million by March 31.
All told, that’s $2 billion rolling through the company’s South End headquarters. It ranks among the largest fundraisings in the U.S. over the past year. The numbers were first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by a Palmetto spokesperson.
Sixteen U.S. companies, including Cary-based Epic Games, raised at least $1 billion in 2024, according to the Crunchbase research firm. Most of those companies were alternative intelligence startups including Databricks, OpenAI and xAI.
Crunchbase did not include Palmetto in its two rankings of largest fundraisings.
Palmetto says its “proprietary technology platform leverages energy intelligence AI to provide homeowners with personalized energy recommendations and interactive tools to better understand their energy usage and spending.”
Investors backing Palmetto include Truist Bank, which put up $125 million late last year and is considering another investment, Bloomberg reported last week. Shell Ventures, TPG, the Social Capital venture capital firm and a dozen other investment firms have also put money into the company, according to Palmetto’s website. Board members includes Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital and Steven Mandel of TPG,
Palmetto has operated with limited publicity. In his annual letter to shareholders in January 2024, CEO Chris Kemper said the company expected to rebound from “one of its most challenging years” with expected 100% growth and “sustained profitability” in 2024.
Kemper started the business in London, then shifted the headquarters to Charleston, South Carolina, according to the website. It then moved its headquarters to Charlotte in 2023, saying it planned to have 200 employees. It has more than 20,000 customers in about 30 states, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Last July, Palmetto joined a venture to own and operate thousands of residential solar and battery systems in low-income communities in Puerto Rico, according to a press release from the Vinson & Elkins law firm.
Residential solar energy adoption is clearly viewed as a growth industry by some major investors. Making money has proven difficult.
Other residential solar leaders include two publicly traded companies. San Francisco-based Sunrun went public in 2020 and has reported cumulative losses of nearly $2 billion over the past five years. Sunnova Energy went public in 2019 and has reported losses of nearly $1.4 billion since then. Sunrun has a market cap of $1.9 billion, compared with Sunnova’s $365 million.
More people adding solar panels to their homes are leasing them rather than making outright purchases, a trend that has prompted some changes in Palmetto’s strategy.
Palmetto recently named Neil Chatterjee as its government affairs director. He led the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during President Donald Trump’s first administration.