SunFunder, a solar energy finance business has announced that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has committed $25 million to its Solar Energy Transformation (“SET”) Fund to achieve a target fund size of $85 million.

The SET Fund — SunFunder’s eighth and largest debt facility — will hold its first close in the coming months. As a 9-year fund it will extend the range of financing that SunFunder already provides to the beyond grid solar sector.

“OPIC’s innovative participation in both the senior and subordinated tranches is highly catalytic for the energy access industry,” said Audrey Desiderato, SunFunder co-founder and COO. “Their commitment is key to unlocking private capital into the SET Fund, which will enable SunFunder to more rapidly meet solar companies’ growing demand for debt capital. This includes commercial and industrial projects that require longer tenor five- to seven-year funding.”

OPIC previously committed $15 million in financing and $10 million in political risk insurance to another fund managed by SunFunder, the Beyond the Grid Solar Fund, which provides financing for off-grid companies located in Africa, India, and the Pacific Islands. To date, the Beyond the Grid Solar Fund has provided loans to 16 off-grid solar companies, which have helped bring electricity to 1.55 million people.

SunFunder says it projects the SET Fund will make individual loans to more than 50 off-grid solar companies located in Africa and Asia, which in turn will enable more than three million people to gain access to clean, affordable energy and lighting. OPIC’s $25 million will provide loans to companies developing off-grid solar products and solutions for the millions of people in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia who lack access to electricity.