SolarCity and Citi (NYSE: C) announced a new fund to finance $40 million in residential solar projects in 2011.
This is the first collaboration between SolarCity and Citi, and Citi’s first investment in residential solar power.
SolarCity will use the new fund to provide solar lease options to homeowners to install solar panels on their homes. SolarCity now has more than 10,000 projects completed or underway in the U.S., including more than 7,000 solar leasing customers.
Solar leasing does not require homeowners to put any money down and
typically saves them more on their monthly electricity bills than they
pay in monthly lease payments. SolarCity’s offerings include custom
design and installation, insurance, repairs, production monitoring and
guaranteed performance. The company says monthly payments can be as
little as $30 per month in some areas.
SolarCity has now raised project financing to fund more than $700 million in solar installations. The company expanded to Maryland and the District of Columbia in January, and plans to expand solar leasing to a range of new states in 2011.
Citi was named "America’s Greenest Bank" in 2010 by Bank Technology News and "Most Innovative Investment Bank in Climate Change and Sustainability" by the Financial Times’ Banker Magazine in 2009 and 2010.
The bank says it is in the midst of a 10-year, $50 billion initiative to support the commercialization and growth of alternative energy and clean technology in markets, with roughly half of that total already directed.
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