Solar Company Capital Markets

I currently work as an analyst in real estate investment banking and am looking to pivot out of real estate soon. Not gonna lie, it’s been a difficult journey so far with most people (even other IB opportunities) pigeonholing me into my real estate experience. One of the areas of interest for me could be renewable, infrastructure, or energy & power, or just project finance more broadly since there is some overlap with RE. Turns out, I have been getting particular interest from solar companies, such as goodleap or sunlight financial to join their team as a project finance or capital markets associate. 

Are these roles of substance and worth entertaining?  Does anybody know what you can do after a few years as an associate at one of these solar companies? I like the idea of the work, I am just not sure about exit opportunities that would be available afterwards. Just looking for some guidance or any anecdotes on others who worked in a similar role or field. Thanks in advance for your help! 

7 Comments
 

From my understanding, the solar companies you mentioned like Goodleap are not really IB applicable at all, those are residential solar companies that provide solar panels to houses. Most solar deals that are done are commercial/utility solar assets (100MW+) or you're selling the entire solar platform company, like Goodleap is being bought by KKR for example. But long story short this job pivot won't help you that much to lateralling into IB. You would learn about the solar and renewable space a bit for sure but people hiring for IB I personally don't think would value that experience at all. That's just my take, all ways open to other answers.

I would try to get into any project finance role and then after gaining experience there lateral into IB

 

Just to clarify, I am already in IB just on the real estate side. I am not trying to pivot into IB down the road. My goal in taking any sort of project finance role would be to do direct lending or infra PE later down the line. Would solar even help with that is my question? 

 

Sorry about that read you're in RE and completely missed that you were in RE IB, my fault. Either way same thing kind of applies, on your resume it be looked at as "taking a step back" imo going from RE IB to finance role for a residential solar company.  An actual project finance role at a somewhat reputable bank like SMBC or SocGen would def help you get into direct lending and PE, exits would LMM and MM though.

 

Saepe repellat dicta eum dolorum. Rerum et totam aut cum dolores. Hic est nam commodi maxime autem enim. Eum eligendi sunt itaque. Doloremque ut quidem harum maxime odit rerum temporibus. Porro eos repudiandae sed quae. Eius quia repellendus qui velit laboriosam.

Tempora dolorem est porro quasi sed. Saepe quia itaque nobis facere quo ratione maiores dolore. Similique possimus non velit eos ut voluptates explicabo.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”