Mosaic (formerly “Solar Mosaic”) is well known in the solar industry for pioneering what one might call “crowd-investing.” It has allowed common Americans to invest in large solar power projects for less than $30… or much more if they prefer. That has been a big and exciting story within the solar industry over the past few years, but Mosaic’s latest news may be even bigger. It is now offering home solar loans that are the most competitive in the United States.
For some perspective: just the other day, I wrote about a potential shift away from solar leasing and solar PPAs toward cash purchases and solar loans. As the price of solar has come down and as more and more banks have found solar projects to be good and safe investments, the latter options have become more attractive. With Mosaic’s financial know-how, noble aims, and experience in the industry, the process might really hasten now.
Mosaic just created the infographic below for Solar Love. It walks through the story above as well as a bit more. Before I send you down that fun read, let me share something Mosaic’s Katie Ullmann told me in an email this weekend while we were discussing these topics:
“Mosaic crafted this loan to have the lowest monthly payments of any home solar loan product that we know of on the market.”
From a simple (unscientific) analysis I conducted in February, I found that solar loans offered a better 20-year return on investment for 5 homes in 5 cities, but that solar leasing offered a better return for 5 other homes in 5 other cities. That surprised me (I expected the loans would do even better). Nonetheless, if that split is representative of the broader story, I’d expect to see a strong shift toward solar loans, especially given that most Americans would rather own their systems than lease them. If Mosaic is now offering a loan that beats all other solar loans on the market, I’m feeling a bit bad for the solar leasing companies that will have to deal with that.
Check out the infographic below on “The Shift” for more info, then chime in down in the comments with your own thoughts if you have any on this matter! I’ll likely follow up on this story in the coming week.
I already leaned towards a preference for loans anyway, but that bullet-list at the end comparing benefits of solar loans to benefits of solar leases sure makes the loans look good, doesn’t it?
