Mosaic offers solar-power loans with maintenance deal
Privately
held solar-financing company Mosaic will offer a residential
solar-power loan package in a partnership with Enphase Energy that comes
with a maintenance deal.
MarketWatch14 mins ago
July 8, 2014, 12:20 p.m. EDT
Mosaic offers solar-power loans with maintenance deal
Its goal is to offer homeowners peace of mind and open the door to securitization
new
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Privately held solar financing company
Mosaic and Enphase Energy Inc. have formed a partnership to offer
residential solar-power loan packages that include system maintenance as
part of the deal, the companies said Tuesday.
The program provides homeowners who might purchase the solar panels
peace of mind by providing upkeep services. It is also a “significant
step forward” toward securitizing residential solar loans, Oakland,
Calif.-based Mosaic said. That would allow large investors to bundle and
sell solar-power loans like they do with mortgages.
Lenders and investors have considered residential solar loans as riskier
than residential solar leases because of the issue of who will maintain
the panels. Solar-panel leases typically include maintenance service
by the leasing company. Offering a guarantee of service by Petaluma,
Calif.-based Enphase
ENPH
-2.70%
will make the loans more appealing to conservative investors, Mosaic said.
In the typical solar-lease agreement, homeowners are usually locked in
to a decades-long contract but pay little or no money up front for a
system on their roofs. Lease payments are usually smaller than monthly
electricity bills, but homeowners often miss out on state and federal
incentives by not buying a system outright.
Solar-panel leases were popularized by privately held SunRun Inc. and SolarCity Corp.
SCTY
-5.56%
.
Mosaic in March launched a loan product in partnership with solar developer and installer Real Goods Solar Inc.
RGSE
-2.12%
SunPower Corp.
SPWR
-3.45%
last month said it closed on a $200 million loan program to fund
residential solar projects over the next two years. Homeowners
interested in going solar would apply for a loan of up to $60,000 to
cover installation costs.
Meanwhile, shares of solar-power companies and renewable energy
companies fell on Tuesday, tracking the broader U.S. equity market
following records last week. Earnings season unofficially begins after
the market closes Tuesday, with Alcoa Inc. reporting its second-quarter
results.
Among the hardest hit solar shares, U.S.-listed Jinko Solar Holding Co.
JKS
-6.79%
declined 6.5%. Shares of SolarCity retreated 5.2%, and SunPower was off 5.5%.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch. Follow her on Twitter @ClaudiaAssisMW.
Get news alerts on Enphase Energy Inc. — or create your own.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment