Cutting M&A Diligence From Months to Days

Key Takeaways

When Standard Solar’s deal team receives a new project, the clock starts immediately. Inboxes fill, and the data room opens like Pandora’s box. Inside are hundreds of files: leases, permits, interconnection agreements, drawings, and PDFs with names like “final_final_v3.” And in each one, there might be a small piece of information that could make or break the deal.

Patrick Chandler, Senior Project Manager, recalls how dozens of specialists used to rigorously review hundreds of files, but as the portfolio grew, the volume of data did too. Legal checked leases and easements. Engineering verified setbacks and technical details. Construction looked for insurance clauses and schedules. Standard Solar’s teams were already known for thoroughness, but with expanding project pipelines, the company saw an opportunity to bring more efficiency and consistency across departments. 

Then Spark arrived. Spark brought Standard Solar an AI diligence tool specifically trained for energy, which could read every document and answer every question. At first, it was just a tool for the legal team. But within weeks, other departments began to notice. Engineering wanted in. So did construction, and then project management. Each department built its own question sets, tailored to the clauses and details they cared about most. Patrick could now run those question sets across an entire data room and surface every relevant answer in minutes.

The team could trust what they were seeing because Spark’s answers stayed locked inside the boundaries of their own documents. Nothing was guessed, assumed, or hallucinated. If Spark surfaced a clause, it came straight from the source file, ready to verify. “If Spark finds something,” Patrick said, “I can trace it, verify it, and rely on it.” The legal team no longer needed to outsource reviews that had already been vetted internally. Analysts could focus on making decisions instead of annotating PDFs. Most importantly, Standard Solar could move faster on acquisitions while keeping its process transparent and secure. In a workflow where accuracy is non-negotiable, Spark earned the trust of a company that manages hundreds of megawatts in active projects.

That combination of precision and pace has strengthened the company’s reputation with its developer partners. Deals close faster, questions get answered sooner, and both sides walk away with fewer surprises. Behind the scenes, Spark has become the quiet connector making that consistency possible. It gives every department the same clear view, the same confidence, and the same speed. Standard Solar has transformed their processes, so that instead of deals dying in review, they get boosted to production.

This precision has had an impact beyond internal efficiency. For developers selling projects, the difference is visible. The team can move through diligence quickly and confidently, offering a smoother experience for its partners. The company’s commitment to doing things right, to checking every clause and educating the jurisdictions it works with, is the same as ever. Now, that diligence moves at unparalleled speed with Spark.