Every now and then there is one of those moments when you ask “why didn’t they do this before?”  Well, the launch of the Berkeley FIRST program is exactly one of those moments.  With the help of Renewable Funding, LLC, Berkeley, CA now offers a program where residential homeowners can install a photovoltaic solar array on their home with no money down.

Renewable Funding, LLC, a private company, created this “win-win” financial services product for municipalities and homeowners, and Berkeley, CA is the first taker.  For Berkeley, Renewable Funding underwrites (AKA bankrolls) revenue bonds that pay for the installation of solar arrays.  Then, through a separate line item on a property owner’s property tax bill, the bonds are paid down over a 20 year term.  If the property owner sells the home, the debt obligation for the solar array (just like the array itself) stays with the property.

Boulder County, CO took  a different approach. Berkeley hired Renewable Funding, LLC to finance and administer the bonds, but Boulder hired Renewable Funding to only administer the bonds.  Whether Renewable Funding bankrolls the program or not, the model seems to work, and solar arrays get installed faster.

Look for this type of program in your California community!  AB 811 (amending Streets and Highways Code 5898.12 et seq.) passed last year authorizes just such an initiative.  Under S&H Code 5898, Renewable Funding is working with the California Statewide Communities Development Authority to implement California FIRST this summer.

Read more about Renewable Funding, LLC by clicking here.

Read more about the Berkeley FIRST program by clicking here.

Read more about the California FIRST program by clicking here. 

 * A Public-Private Partnership is a partnership between a government entity and a private entity that results in the private entity delivering services traditionally offered by government. (e.g. a toll road).