Investments at Trine come with an environmental, social and financial return. We estimate the future impact in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions avoided and how many people will get access to electricity, displaying the relevant numbers on the loan offer page.

We use different methods depending on industry, and this article will focus on Commercial and Industrial solar installations. If you're wondering how we calculate the impact of Solar Home Systems, head to this article.

In order to calculate the environmental impact we look at two different types of systems, both requiring different calculation methods.

Input variables:

Calculation:

(Liters of diesel/year x Emission per Liter of diesel x Loan tenor)/CAPEX = CO2 reduced per EUR invested.

Input variables:

Calculation:

(kWh of energy consumed x Carbon intensity x Loan tenor) / CAPEX = CO2 reduced per EUR invested.

We do not account for upstream emissions (supplier/third-party emissions) produced when manufacturing energy equipment, nor do we account for upstream emissions of diesel in our calculations.

Trine has chosen to present the social impact through the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. C&I installations can normally contribute to important growth for society, such as economic growth for businesses, increased employment opportunities, as well as important development of infrastructure.

Impact can mean so much more than just the amount of CO2e emissions avoided. To give you a better view of this we have decided to use the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. You will find the goals on each loan page that we assess to be directly affected through an investment in that loan.

All Trine loans directly impact goal 7 for affordable and clean energy and goal 13 for climate action, but it does not stop there. We see that C&I installations contribute directly to the following goals:

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

According to the World Economic Forum, infrastructure is the backbone of any country, generating jobs, improving the quality of life for the poor and boosting economic growth. Such investments are integral to poverty alleviation.

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

According to UNDP, small and medium-sized enterprises that engage in industrial processing and manufacturing are the most critical for the early stages of industrialisation and are typically the largest job creators. They make up over 90% of businesses worldwide and account for between 50-60% of employment.

Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Industrialisation’s job multiplication effect has a positive impact on society. UNDP found that every job in manufacturing creates 2.2 jobs in other sectors.

Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Cities have the potential to optimise their efficiency by reducing energy consumption and adopting green energy systems, according to the United Nations. By financing the switch to solar energy, we will contribute to efficiency gains and technological innovation while reducing resource and energy consumption.

Find out more on how impact is later reported and measured for loans in the Commercial and Industrial sector.

Please note that we do not sell carbon credits.