Google has invested an additional $75 million in solar panel financing, this time partnering with Clean Power Finance. The funding allows homeowners throughout the United States to rent equipment through local vendors for a low monthly rate.
Google has invested an additional $75 million in solar panel financing, this time partnering with Clean Power Finance. The funding allows homeowners to rent equipment through local vendors for a low monthly rate.
Despite the long-term benefits, both in lower financial costs and the warm fuzzies provided by going green, most homeowners can’t afford solar panels. The reason is simple: they cost upward of $25,000 to purchase and install. It’s this up-front cost barrier that Google aims to tear down.
How? Google has invested $75 million into a financing fund with Clean Power Finance. Those funds are used to purchase the solar equipment, which Google then officially owns. Homeowners can work with local solar vendors to rent this equipment, paying a set monthly cost that may in some cases be lower than the amount the homeowner saves in utility costs.
While this move certainly contributes to a green cause, Google will also be getting a return on their investment. As noted by the Associated Press, Google will get “the monthly fee from homeowners, and, as the owner of the systems, Google will get the benefit of federal and state renewable energy subsidies.”
“We’re excited to be one of the first investors to partner with Clean Power Finance and enable the company to continue forging strong relationships with solar installers,” read the official Google statement. Google notes that, combined with a similar solar financing investment made earlier this year in SolarCity, Google’s funds will “help more than 10,000 homeowners generate clean electricity from the sun.”
Beyond that previous financing investment of $280 million earlier this year, Google has also contributed to solar, wind, and geothermal power across the globe. Their efforts on the solar front extend all the way back to 2006, when the Googleplex got its own solar panels.
With the $75 million put toward Clean Power Finance’s efforts, Google has now invested a total of more than $850 million in clear power.