Solar integrator SolarCity and U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC) today announced a new partnership to finance solar projects for U.S. homeowners and businesses.
USBCDC is a division of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), which is also the parent of U.S. Bank, the sixth largest commercial bank in America.
The two companies have created a new tax equity fund to finance SolarCity’s solar lease option (SolarLease™) for homeowners and power purchase agreements (PPA) for businesses. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the fund, but said they expect it to finance more solar projects in 2009 than any other tax equity fund in the U.S.
“SolarCity’s leasing option is one of the most affordable ways to go solar that we’ve seen, and we’re thrilled to partner with them,” said Darren Van’t Hof, vice president of solar, new markets and historic investments for U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation. “Today’s announcement is only the beginning—we look forward to making additional investments with SolarCity, and believe this partnership will ultimately enable thousands of American homeowners and businesses to adopt cleaner power and save money on energy costs in the process.”
USBCDC said the new fund is one of two tax equity funds closed in 2009 in the U.S. with the ability to finance residential solar projects—both funds were created with SolarCity to finance solar installations.
SolarCity plans to hire 100 new employees in the next six months to increase installation capacity as a result of the new financing. SolarCity’s SolarLease option allows U.S. homeowners to put no money down on a new solar system.
“Tax equity financing has been the primary constraint on the growth of the solar industry, so we’re obviously thrilled and very grateful to U.S. Bank,” said Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity.
SolarCity operates in California, Arizona and Oregon.
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