The company says the sun produces provides 36 zettajoules of energy, as much energy as is contained in all proven reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas on this planet, in five days, and yet solar energy’s contribution to global energy consumption is insignificant, contributing less than 1%.

The fund believes that the global shift to preference towards solar and renewable energy is underway, and it wants to be a part of that, initially by focusing on investing in large-scale, cash-flow producing solar farms that generate emissions-free power.

Between 2009 and 2014, solar panel costs fell by some 75%, with further falls expected as technology and manufacturing processes continue to progress and evolve.

The combination of technological change and policy support means that electricity produced from solar is now at grid parity with fossil fuels in many global markets including parts of Australia and the US, which is creating investment opportunities, chairman Alex MacLachlan wrote in New Solar’s prospectus.

He said so far most investment opportunities have been in high growth, technology oriented, early-stage companies restricting the investor universe to those comfortable bearing technology risk, and not the lower risk downstream segment.

Starting with solar, and with plans to expand into other renewables, New Solar said it would look at investments across the US, Australia and Asia.

The fund intends to initially target solar assets generating yields in the range of 7 to 10%, though the fund may target assets outside this range.

It is banking on growth in renewables of 37% between 2014 and 2035.