I've been looking for something just like this! I find that people get really weird about solar stuff, so I'll explain why I've been looking for something like this. 1. I believe that man-made climate change is real and we should do something about it. 2. I want to limit/eliminate my own family's personal contribution to the warming of the planet for ethical and emotional reasons 3. I believe that solar is a "green"…
Your speculation #7 notwithstanding, this kind of scheme is being targeted at retail investors [1] (instead of just accredited investors, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and the like) because it is more of a feel-good investment than something that makes financial sense. Firms with similar business models include Rally Road (equity shares in collectible cars). Similarities include the establish-an-emotional-connection tactic of identifying a specific panel or specific car.
This is a step up from Rally Road in my book — there's real earnings, it's not purely speculative — but from an investment perspective, you're only really involved because you're not as demanding as a serious investor (I expect rising interest rates have something to do with the shift away from accredited investors) and you are more vulnerable to this kind of feelgood pitch. Heck, you're competing with funding sources like a commercial loan, and for some reason you're winning?? That's a red flag.
You may see depressingly low returns. Read the prospectus end to end, understand the risks, and figure out how to do the math and properly discount a future income stream in a rising-interest-rate environment.
[1] (Elsewhere in this discussion: "We are currently working with accredited investors, but we are working to launch a product for retail investors.")