Newsom Asks Banks To Fund SF Rooftop Solar Program

CBS5

February 2, 2008--San Francisco's mayor on Monday called on the private banking sector to fund a low-interest loan program intended to boost residential and commercial solar energy purchases and energy efficiency improvements.

The city's Office of Public Finance issued Monday a Request for Proposals soliciting lenders to partner with the city in creating the San Francisco Clean Energy Loan Program.

"We need to make renewable energy and energy efficiency affordable for people of all incomes," Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement released by his office.

According to Newsom's office, despite the city's GoSolarSF incentive program, which it said is the largest local solar incentive program in the nation, the recent credit squeeze has left some lenders unwilling to issue loans to people with otherwise good credit that would help pay for the pricey systems.

The GoSolarSF program currently offers payments of between $2,000 and $4,000 for residents and up to $10,000 for businesses. An additional $7,000 for low-income residents is pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, according to the city.

Combined with federal tax credits and state rebates, GoSolarSF could save residents about half the cost of the average $25,000 for a 2.5-kilowatt residential solar installation, the city estimates.

The rest of the price could be made up by loans, according to the city plan.

"While our solar incentive program has been dramatically successful in increasing local solar installations, this low-interest loan program is the missing piece of the puzzle," Newsom said.

The program would create a pool, financed by the banks and co-administered with the city, of up to $20 million to issue loans to residents and businesses making up the rest of the cost of the solar energy systems, or to help fund small urban wind power projects or energy efficiency upgrades, according to Joe Arellano, a spokesman for the mayor.

The result would be lower utility bills and a greener renewable energy portfolio for the city, he said.

Arellano said the program is also designed to offer lenders more attractive loans that are attached to properties and not borrowers.

"The idea is to ask for loans on property, which in San Francisco, will not devalue as much over time," Arellano said.

The loans would be repaid over a 20-year period through a special tax on the resident's property tax bill, according to Arellano.

"Innovative public/private partnerships, exemplified by this loan program, can help us point the way toward a cleaner energy future," said Newsom.

A similar pilot solar loan program is already underway in Berkeley, the mayor's office said.

Letters of intent to submit a proposal for the program are due Feb. 17; final proposals are due April 1, according to the mayor's office.

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