Innovative Financing Supports the Growth of Green Energy Companies

Technological innovations alone are not enough to make an impact in the clean energy sector, unless these are backed by effective financial support. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is leading two solar lending working groups that include over 100 financial institutions, solar installers and service providers. The evolution in the field of clean energy finance has just begun.

The largest residential solar installer in the U.S., SolarCity, has completed the industry's first securitization of distributed residential and commercial assets with a private placement of $54.4 million at an interest rate of 4.8 percent. The company followed that up with another $70 million securitized pool of solar asset-backed notes at 4.59 percent. Analysts believe that SolarCity is just the tip of the iceberg. A majority of clean energy companies are still improving their understanding of the new financial vehicles.

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Image Credit: Flickr via Timothy Tolle