Leading residential solar service provider, SolarCity Corporation (SCTY) has tied up with Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) to launch a new non-recourse solar financing facility worth $200 million. This facility is aimed at assisting customers in purchasing solar energy systems through the company’s new “MyPower” loan program.
San Mateo, CA based SolarCity launched its MyPower loan plan in Oct 2014. This plan allows its customers to own their solar systems and still pay less for electricity when compared to leasing them through power purchase agreements (PPAs).
The MyPower loan program has caught the fancy of U.S. residents. This loan facility has already won 8,000 subscribers since its launch. The plan is unique in the sense the subscribers can pay off their loans from the energy produced by the system. For instance, customers are required to pay back the loan at 16 cents a kilowatt hour for the first year.
The solar industry in the U.S. is on a roll like never before. Per the data released by Solar Energy Industries Association, installation of solar photovoltaic (“PV”) panels in the county skyrocketed to 1,354 megawatts in the third quarter of 2014. This was primarily fueled by 58% year-over-year growth in the residential sector. The current cumulative solar PV capacity in the U.S. now stands at 16.1 gigawatts (GW) with another 1.4 GW of concentrating solar power capacity.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects solar consumption in the U.S. to surge 85.7% to 0.570 quadrillion btu in 2016 compared with 2013 levels. With the solar industry booming in the U.S., other players like SunPower Corporation (SPWR) and Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) also have reasons to be happy.
Moreover, as per a recent study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, investing in a 5 kilowatt solar system is far better and low-risk as compared to investing in the stock market index fund in 46 of 50 largest cities in the U.S.
SolarCity currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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