25 MW · Upstate New York · Community Solar Recovery
Our client acquired a community solar portfolio out of bankruptcy in March 2025. The systems were vastly underperforming. SunStrong managed the recovery, on budget and ahead of schedule.
The Situation
In March 2025, our client purchased a 25 MW community solar portfolio in upstate New York through bankruptcy. The systems had been operating without consistent maintenance or servicing under prior ownership. Production had degraded substantially below the original forecasts.
For a community solar portfolio operating under New York’s VDER (Value of Distributed Energy Resources) program, underperformance compounds: missed production reduces the value-stack revenue and forfeits market-aligned upside as VDER pricing increases.
The new owner needed a recovery operator who could move quickly enough to capture the program’s price increases.
The Solution
SunStrong took over asset management at the close of our client’s acquisition. The recovery work spanned diagnostic engineering across the portfolio, repair execution to address the underlying degradation, and operational continuity for the community subscriber base on the customer side.
The sequencing mattered. VDER pricing had recently increased in upstate New York. Every week the systems remained underperforming was a week of foregone revenue. SunStrong sequenced the recovery to bring systems back online ahead of the VDER price benefit window.
Outcomes
By the numbers.
VDER Program
Unlocking regulatory market value.
New York’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) program compensates distributed energy projects based on the actual value they provide to the electric grid—including energy, capacity, environmental benefits, and locational impact.
Unlike traditional net metering, VDER uses a “value stack” framework to monetize multiple grid services, creating a more market-aligned and performance-based revenue model.
- Stacked revenue streams
- Long-term cash flow visibility
- Community solar monetization
- Optimization upside
- Policy-backed market
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