Solar Financing - CivicSolar

Installer's Guide to Solar Financing

Seven Things to Know

... about financing residential solar systems

DECEMBER 2016

eBooks

Table of Contents ______________________________________________

Introduction: How to use this eBook.............................................. 3 1) A History of Solar Financing ..................................................... 4 2) The Competition........................................................................ 7 3) The Solar ROI ......................................................................... 13 4) Understanding Customer Needs and Preferences ................ 19 5) Solar Financing Options.......................................................... 25 6) Selecting a Financing Partner ................................................. 38 7) Peace of Mind for Customers ................................................. 41 Conclusion .................................................................................. 44 Appendix: Solar Financing Providers .......................................... 45

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Introduction

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As the leading solar equipment distributor servicing independent solar installers throughout the U.S., we are proud to support thousands of contractors building solar PV installation businesses by providing them with technical, product, and design related information and services.

Since 2009, we have seen the world of solar financing evolve in many ways and remain a critical area where we have received many questions and requests.

Our goal with this guide is to provide you the necessary knowledge about the rapidly developing solar project financing options for your business and customers. This is by no means an exhaustive guide, but covers the basics of evaluating and offering various solar financing solutions with the goal of helping you increase your success rate when selling solar solutions.

Please note, we love feedback! If you have any suggestions for improvement to the next edition of this eBook, please email us at content@.

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01 A History of Solar Financing

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A History of Solar Financing

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2010 National, vertically integrated solar developers (e.g. SolarCity, SunPower, Vivint, SunEdison, SunRun, Sungevity, etc.) rapidly increased their market shares. This was a result of a new type of financial product: the Third-Party-Owned (TPO) solar model, or, as they are known to home and property owners, solar leases and solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

While these TPO solutions provided the average home and property owner a worry-free way of investing in solar, they failed to provide full transparency (for home and property owners) or the level playing field necessary for the thousands of independent competing installers to succeed. As a result, independent installers who did not have access to TPO solutions were forced to contend by selling customer-owned solar solutions for which there were limited financing solutions.

2012 Customer-owned financing solutions, such as solar specific loan products and TPO solutions for independent installers, began entering the market and leveling the field for competition. Soon after, innovative financing solutions such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) entered the market and provided an increased number of choices for property owners.

2015 - 2016 For the first time in years, TPO solutions began losing market share to customer-owned solutions. This shift was

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