(Yicai) March 18 -- As asset securitization gains momentum in China’s renewable energy sector, a new type of asset-backed security backed by household distributed solar power systems began trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday, making it the first product of its kind to go public in the country.

The newly listed ABS was issued by Trinapower, a unit of PV giant Trina Solar, with a size of CNY1.2 billion (USD176.7 million). Pacific Asset Management is the plan manager and cornerstone investor. The ABC’s underlying assets comprise over 28,000 household solar systems across 10 provinces, with a total installed and grid-connected capacity of 990.34 megawatts.

Trinapower specializes in distributed PV system equipment and solutions, which are solar systems installed on the rooftops of residential or commercial buildings that generate electricity locally. The Changzhou-based firm had provided PV systems and services to nearly 1.5 million households as of the end of last year.

Renewable energy power stations are capital-heavy projects. They cost a lot upfront and take a long time to pay back. After years of rapid expansion, coupled with weaker profitability across the solar industry since 2024, investors in such power stations are under pressure. Their debt levels are rising and it is getting harder to secure external financing.

Against this backdrop, companies are increasingly turning to asset securitization. By converting power stations that are already operating and which generate stable cash flow into financial products they can reduce leverage and open up new financing channels. It also encourages them to use digital tools to boost power generation efficiency and improve transparency of how these assets are managed.

“Trinapower will continue to explore ways to combine green energy assets with financial tools, make better use of green finance, enrich financing channels, and create models that others in the industry can replicate,” Chairman Gao Haichun said after the issuance.

Since last year, this kind of securitization in renewable energy has picked up significantly. For instance, Envision Group issued China’s first clean-energy ABS worth CNY285 million (USD41.4 million) in August last year, which is backed by the company’s wind farm in northern Hebei province. Meanwhile, Sichuan Energy Development Group issued the country’s first hydropower station ABS worth CNY2.5 billion (USD363.5 million) in November 2025, with five cascade hydropower stations as its underlying assets.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor