With DoE, DoD Backing SolarStrong to Double US Home Solar Power [View All]

[kristopher]

With DoE, DoD Backing SolarStrong to 2x US Home Solar Power

09 September 2011, 08:55 BST

SolarCity's SolarStrong project, which the company says could double the number of US residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, moved a step closer to becoming reality yesterday when Energy Secretary Stephen Chu approved a conditional commitment to partially guarantee a $344 million loan.

Part of the SolarStrong project entails SolarCity working with leading US military housing privatization developers to install, own and operate as many as 160,000 rooftop solar power installations on as many as 124 military housing developments across 33 states, according to a SolarCity news release.

The project is expected to result in over $1 billion worth of solar projects and 371 megawatts (MW) of residential solar power capacity being installed. USRG Renewable Finance, a subsidiary of the US Renewables Group, and BoA Merrill Lynch will serve as lead lender partners for the project.

"We're extremely grateful to the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, in addition to our partners, U.S. Renewables Group and BofA Merrill Lynch. Without this group, we would not have been able to make the economics of this project work," said Lyndon Rive, SolarCity's CEO. "Now the solar industry has a debt model that can make distributed generation affordable on a massive scale."

The US Dept. of Energy's...

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20110909/with-doe-dod-backing-solarstrong-home-solar-power.htm