Tag Archives: financing
SolarCity+Honda=Solar Financing Enterprise?
Solar energy company SolarCity and automaker Honda have joined forces to increase access to solar power for their customers. The partnership establishes an investment fund to finance $65 million in solar projects to assist Honda and Acura (Honda’s luxury division) customers with the initial cost of solar power installation. Millions of Honda and Acura customers [...]
Big Banks: Scared of Solar Projects?
Given the uncertainty in today’s solar industry, are bank credit committees backing away from solar generation projects? Jennifer Graham, a VP at Prudential Capital Group and panelist at Solar Power Generation 2013, said, “There are certainly a lot more questions,” adding that her institution doesn’t consider solar deals valued at less than $45 million. “‘What [...]
In Focus: ‘Pay As You Go’ Solar
Think solar panels are too expensive? It’s a common misconception—homeowners often think solar power is something only the rich can afford. But it just isn’t true. In fact, in many locations now, you can actually get solar panels for free. No, that isn’t some kind of trick: you can get free solar up on your [...]
In Focus: On-Bill Repayment (OBR)
Earlier this year, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) issued a decision requiring the state’s investor-owned utilities to establish several financing programs, including an On-Bill Repayment (“OBR”) program for commercial properties. OBR programs allow property owners to finance energy efficiency and/or renewable energy projects with third-party banks or other investors. Property owners repay their loan [...]
In Focus: Off-Grid Renewable Energy
At the beginning of August 2012, the world’s biggest power outage hit India leaving 600 million people without electricity. India’s burgeoning electrical grid failed to meet the extreme demands of its growing economy. They simply did not have enough capacity to meet the high demand of electricity in cities. The power outage threw the urban [...]
Smart Grid to See More American Investment than Electric Vehicles
Smart grid growth in Canada and the United States will likely encourage greater investment in renewable energy resources and electric vehicle adoption, according to a recent report. Global Data, a UK-based research and analyses firm, released a report about the increased speed of smart grid adoption in North America earlier this month. Incentive funds for [...]
Aw Snap! Q2 2012 Cleantech Investment Down
Global cleantech investment dropped to $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2012, down 14 percent from $1.9 billion in the first quarter and 25 percent down from the $2.1 billion invested in the second quarter of 2011. That’s the bad news from the Cleantech Group’s report Tuesday, which tracks a downturn in green technology [...]
Solar Leasing: Fact vs Fiction
Solar Leasing Companies are typically nothing more than a financial institution. They are a sales team, with no associated installation team or in-depth knowledge of their solar product. They are an investor, who wants to benefit from your interest in solar energy, by putting themselves in between you and the solar installation company. They want [...]
Is The Solar Leasing Model Flawed?
When Seattle-based consumer-rights law firm Hagens Berman announced last month that it was investigating SunRun in preparation for a possible class action lawsuit, some installers said it was a statement about the leasing model. Jeff Mayer, CEO of Soluxe Solar in New England, said he expects to see similar lawsuits filed against other companies that [...]