MMA Renewable Ventures Completes Its Solar Fund III

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 27, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC ("MuniMae") (Pink Sheets: MMAB) today announced that it has completed Solar Fund III, raising nearly $200 million to support the creation of new solar energy nationwide.

Through Solar Fund III, MMA Renewable Ventures successfully deployed 20.6 megawatts (MW) of new solar photovoltaic production capacity in the U.S. The company financed and completed -- and now owns and operates -- 20 new photovoltaic projects sited at governmental, retail, private and public sector locations, with third-party power purchase agreements. The company achieved this despite the challenging financial market and fluctuating energy prices in 2008.

"With the closing of Solar Fund III, we've confirmed that electricity customers in the U.S. are looking at the long term, and have identified clean, predictably-priced energy from the sun as an operational fit that makes sense," said Matt Cheney, CEO of MMA Renewable Ventures.

"We are well- positioned to meet the growing demand for solar. Thanks to our strong team and outstanding partners, we're able to negotiate deals and secure supply. Our excellent relationships -- with integrators, suppliers, and premier financial institutions that are making tax-advantaged investments -- enable us to complete projects quickly and successfully. Renewable energy, in particular solar, has proven it can weather the financial storm, and will continue to fuel the economy with jobs and economic growth, despite the difficult challenges currently facing the credit market."

Solar Fund III included a tax equity investment from Wells Fargo that enabled MMA Renewable Ventures to finance solar energy projects nationwide. "We're pleased to work with MMA Renewable Ventures to help unlock the vast opportunities that exist to help our nation take advantage of clean, renewable energy," said Barry Neal, director of Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo. "Our companies have a mutual dedication to aligning renewable energy with real economic opportunity in ways that benefit our customers, community, shareholders and the environment."

Most of the construction debt, permanent debt, and rebate financing for the Solar Fund III projects was provided by the National Consumer Cooperative Bank ("NCB"). "NCB views renewable energy as an important priority; we supply innovative financial services, and have a strong commitment to community involvement and the environment," said Andrew Kho, Managing Director of NCB's renewable energy department. "NCB enjoys working with MMA Renewable Ventures, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration on future solar PV projects."

MMA closed 2008 with approximately 40 MW in total of solar projects under its management and operation, an increase of 75 percent from its 2007 portfolio. "Our most recent projections indicate another substantial step in our growth for 2009, further reinforcing MMA Renewable Ventures' position as the nation's leading independent developer, financier, owner, and operator of renewable energy projects," noted Cheney.

MMA Renewable Ventures leverages tax credits and other incentives to finance and develop large-scale solar power systems under long-term contracts known as Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). Among the 20.6 MW of new solar photovoltaic projects that MMA brought online across the U.S. is the landmark two-megawatt solar photovoltaic system at Denver International Airport (one of the most visible solar arrays in the nation), as well as solar projects for Macy's, Roche, University of California-San Francisco, Gap Inc., FPL, Bolthouse Farms, and Lowe's.

About MMA Renewable Ventures

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC (OTC: MMAB.PK), MMA Renewable Ventures is a provider of renewable energy to businesses, utilities and government. The company develops, finances, owns and operates solar, wind, biomass and energy efficiency projects that provide clean power to customers without capital investment or maintenance costs. MMA Renewable Ventures is dedicated to delivering competitively-priced, clean energy and energy savings to customers, strong partnership options for project developers, and exceptional opportunities for institutional investment in the clean energy sector. Our team of engineers, financiers and projects managers is passionate about building a sustainable future.

For more information, visit http://www.mmarenewableventures.com.

SOURCE MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC

Suntech Power and MMA Renewables Partner For Solar Utility Venture

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, and MMA Renewable Ventures, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC (Pink Sheets: MMAB), today announced the creation of Gemini Solar Development Company (Gemini Solar), a joint venture to develop and finance photovoltaic projects 10 megawatts and larger. MMA Renewable Ventures, Suntech, and their third-party finance partners will co-own and operate the projects built by Gemini Solar. With quality photovoltaic product and solar financing expertise in place, Gemini Solar will provide an end-to-end solution to address the growing demand for large-scale solar power projects as the U.S. increases its efforts towards energy independence. Kristina Peterson, Suntech's Director of Structured Finance, will serve as Gemini's President.

"Utility and other large-scale, distributed solar power systems are emerging as one of the fastest growing segments of the solar industry. Gemini Solar combines the key strengths of two highly experienced organizations," said MMA Renewable Ventures CEO Matt Cheney. "MMA Renewable Ventures brings structured finance expertise and an unparalleled track record in developing and delivering quality renewable energy projects in the U.S., including the nation's largest photovoltaic project to date, the 14 megawatt Nellis Air Force Base project in Nevada. We are pleased to be working with Suntech, an international innovator in solar which brings high quality manufacturing, large-scale module supply, advanced solar solutions and global presence to the joint venture. Together, we will enable investors to finance low risk, reliable solar power projects, while helping utilities, industry and government secure reliable, renewable energy right
away."

"Suntech views the long-term prospects for the U.S. solar market as excellent and growing," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's Chairman and CEO. "Combining our ability to execute with MMA Renewable Venture's proven success in financing and developing large-scale solar projects will enable us to bring high quality utility-scale solar projects online rapidly, economically and efficiently. The collaboration of Suntech and MMA Renewable Ventures will bring great value to investors and others associated with the projects. Suntech is pleased to give increased confidence to energy customers through our intention to take long-term ownership stakes in projects pursued by the joint venture."

"Gemini Solar combines the forces of two of the most experienced renewable energy companies in the world. 'Gemini' refers to the fact that the two firms share the same vision about how the U.S. solar market will develop and grow," said Kristina Peterson, President of Gemini Solar. "Working together, the joint venture will develop large-scale solar energy installations to help address the critical need for renewable power generation to represent a greater portion of our national energy portfolio."

Solar Power Purchase Agreements Spur Growth

SAN FRANCISCO, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC ("MuniMae") (Pink Sheets: MMAB) today announced that it closed 2007 with approximately 34 megawatts (MW) of solar under operation and development, including more than 20 MW of new renewable energy generation last year alone, an increase of more than five times its 2006 portfolio. In total, MMA Renewable Ventures brought projects into operation at 18 sites across the U.S. in 2007, among them, North America's largest solar photovoltaic system at Nellis Air Force Base (14MW). The successful growth solidifies MMA Renewable Ventures' position as one of North America's largest solar power
purchase agreement (PPA) providers. The company's expanding project pipeline also includes over $100 million in energy efficiency projects and 100 MW in additional renewable energy sources including wind and bioenergy.

"We saw a robust increase in demand for solar PPAs during 2007, growth that we have already seen persisting through the first part of 2008 as energy customers across the country continue to look for easy, cost-effective ways to take advantage of clean, predictable energy from the sun," said Matt Cheney, CEO of MMA Renewable Ventures. "In total, these systems will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by more than 63 million pounds each year."

Through the PPA model it helped pioneer, MMA Renewable Ventures makes solar energy cost-competitive by financing, owning and operating the installations on behalf of its customers and investors. In turn, the energy customer simply purchases the power generated under a long-term contract, benefiting from predictable electricity pricing and a solar energy system
that is cash flow positive from its first day of operation. MMA Renewable Ventures arranges for third party institutional investment in its solar projects. The company typically structures financing by aggregating a number of its high- quality solar projects into low risk debt and
tax-advantaged institutional investor funds, which enable multiple investors to participate while at the same time diversifying their risk.

"In addition to sound state policies that promote solar energy, innovations in clean energy project finance have helped open the doors for unprecedented U.S. solar market expansion in this past year. With MMA Renewable Ventures helping to lead the way, the PPA model has emerged as one of the most effective mechanisms for making solar cost-effective for commercial and large-scale energy customers," said Sara Birmingham, Director of Western Policy for The Solar Alliance.

"MMA Renewable Ventures consistently delivers on its promise of providing competitively priced clean energy for its customers and exceptional investment opportunities in solar energy," said Michael L. Falcone, CEO of MuniMae. "We are proud to count MMA Renewable Ventures'
growing project portfolio among the high-quality investment opportunities that MuniMae offers its institutional investors."

In 2007 MMA Renewable Ventures delivered customized solar PPAs to commercial, utility, and public energy customers nationwide. In addition to the landmark PV system at Nellis Air Force Base, the company's operational portfolio for the year includes commercial-scale installations at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and Estee Lauder as well as east and west coast locations for Roche Pharmaceuticals. Municipal customers include AC Transit, and the City of Thousand Oaks. MMA Renewable Ventures also added a number of academic institutions to its portfolio, including: CSU Fresno, Sussex County Community College in Newton, New Jersey and the Happy Valley Elementary School District in Anderson, California.

Macy's Announces Rooftop Solar Project

SAN FRANCISCO, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC ("MuniMae," Pink Sheets: MMAB) today announced that it has signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for 14 new solar electric systems at Macy's stores in California. MMA Renewable Ventures arranged equity investment for the first four systems through its Solar Fund III, a financing commitment with a subsidiary of Wells Fargo ("Wells Fargo," NYSE: WFC), under which Wells Fargo intends to fund 10-15 megawatts of solar energy projects nationwide.

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems is providing the systems. Through the SunPower Access(TM) PPA program, MMA Renewable Ventures will own the solar energy systems and sell market-competitive, predictably-priced electricity to Macy's in support of
the retailer's commitment to environmental sustainability. The 14 systems financed by MMA Renewable Ventures are part of Macy's partnership with SunPower to install solar systems and provide energy efficiency upgrades on a total of 28 stores throughout California.

"Macy's has demonstrated remarkable leadership in promoting sustainable business practices through its statewide clean energy and energy efficiency measures," said Matt Cheney, CEO of MMA Renewable Ventures. "Today we are working with Macy's to prove that such pioneering efforts can be as good for a company's bottom line as they are for the environment."

"Forward-thinking companies are using power purchase agreements to benefit from the use of clean, renewable solar power," said SunPower Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner. "Macy's is combining energy efficiency upgrades with a significant commitment to solar power, financed by MMA Renewable Ventures, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions easily and affordably."

"Our investment in this Solar Fund is part of our broader strategy to finance and support business opportunities that help accelerate a transition toward a sustainable energy economy," said Barry Neal, Wells Fargo's Director of Environmental Finance.

MMA Renewable Ventures' customized PPA solutions eliminate the upfront cost of solar energy systems and ongoing responsibilities of system maintenance for energy customers like Macy's. As a third-party system owner, MMA Renewable Ventures manages project risk and optimizes incentives and other financial factors to make the new solar energy systems a cost
effective source of clean energy. Leveraging its deep expertise in project finance and energy system operations, MMA Renewable Ventures is able to deliver a long-term contract for power that offers customers immediate energy savings and a long- term hedge against future pricing volatility.