Solar-energy services company Recurrent Energy confirmed on Friday that it had received $10 million in a first round of funding.

San Francisco-based Recurrent installs, owns, and operates solar-power systems for real estate owners who want solar energy on their rooftops but don’t want to operate the systems and invest the capital to build them.

According to CEO Arno Harris, "solar as a service" is a rising trend.

"The market is red hot," Mr. Harris said. "Customers want to buy energy in a form that reduces their exposure to long-term utility prices and reduces their operational risk associated with energy."

Earlier this month Tioga Energy, A Sunnyvale, California, startup, raised $10 million for a similar service (see Tioga Launches with $10M). Other competitors are San Francisco-based MMA Renewable Ventures and SunEdison.

Recurrent Energy targets big owners of real estate. That includes retail chains like Wal-Mart but also shareholder-owned property groups. Mr. Arno wouldn’t name the customers the startup has signed since its founding last year.

Recurrent takes care of the whole process, from finding solar-friendly sites on customer buildings to delivering the power at prices that are "lower or the same" as those offered by utilities, Mr. Arno said.

"A lot of the innovation that we do is around the pricing schemes," Mr. Arno said. He did not provide details.

The $10 million was invested in March by venture firm Mohr Davidow Ventures in Menlo Park, California, and New York’s JEM Partners, but it wasn’t confirmed by Recurrent until Friday.