SolarCity creates new fund for US$249mn in solar projects

SolarCity Corporation has created a new tax equity fund to finance US$249 million in solar projects. SolarCity’s financing partner in the fund—a Fortune 100 company—was not disclosed. This is the fourth solar project fund the two companies have partnered to create.

After it is fully allocated, the fund can be doubled in size to finance a total of US$498 million in solar projects. The fund covers the capital cost of solar equipment and installation, making it possible for many homeowners to pay less for the power the systems produce than they pay for electricity from the local utility.

“SolarCity has now created 50 project funds with 21 different financing partners,” said Radford Small, SolarCity’s Executive Vice President, Capital Markets. “Distributed solar’s unique combination of strong returns and societal benefits has attracted a range of corporate and institutional investors and enabled hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses to pay less for power generated by solar panels than they pay for power from utilities.”