Sunita Paknikar
Senior Counsel
Sunita is Senior Counsel in 番茄社区; Lardner LLP鈥檚 Energy practice, focusing on complex renewable energy finance transactions. Her practice centers on lender-side debt and investor-side tax equity financings for utility-scale and distributed generation projects across the United States.
She represents many of the most active financial institutions in the energy transition, including major U.S. and international commercial banks and other institutional investors.聽 Sunita has deep experience across construction, development, bridge, term loan, and letter of credit facilities, as well as tax equity and sale-leaseback structures. Her representative matters include:
- A multi鈥慴illion鈥慸ollar tax equity financing for a large solar and battery energy storage project in California.
- A nine鈥慺igure tax equity financing for a utility鈥憇cale solar project in the Southwestern United States.
- Multiple tax equity and construction bridge financings for community solar portfolios across the country, including several hundred鈥憁illion鈥慸ollar construction and tax equity bridge facilities for portfolios of projects spanning multiple states.
- A series of construction and tax equity bridge loans for multi鈥憇tate community solar portfolios, each supporting dozens of projects and totaling several hundred megawatts of capacity.
- A multi鈥慼undred鈥憁illion鈥慸ollar construction, term, bridge, and letter of credit facility for a portfolio of solar projects, designed to support development, construction, and long鈥憈erm operation.
- Development and construction credit facilities for portfolios of distributed generation solar projects, including multi鈥憈ranche structures combining construction, term, bridge, and letter of credit components.
- A development loan facility supporting acquisitions, development, and construction of a nationwide renewable energy project pipeline.
- A construction and sale鈥憀easeback financing for a portfolio of community solar projects.
- A development loan for a multi鈥憇tate solar portfolio sponsored by an established developer, including support for early鈥憇tage project development costs.
- Financing transactions for portfolios of projects utilizing both traditional project finance structures and innovative variations adapted to evolving market and regulatory conditions.
In addition to her client work, Sunita plays an active role in firm leadership and attorney development. She serves on Foley鈥檚 Associates Committee as the Washington, D.C. representative, where she works closely with firm leadership on associate morale, retention, and professional development.聽 Sunita is also committed to pro bono service, with recent representations including educational, cultural, and community nonprofit organizations.
Awards and Recognition
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recognition for Energy Law, Commercial Litigation and Project Finance Law (2023-2025)
Presentations and Publications
- Co-author, 鈥淐omplexities in financing community solar portfolios,鈥澛PFI Global Energy Special Report听(2026)
Foley Advises Lender Group in Dimension Energy鈥檚 $650 Million Community Solar Financing
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