American Solar and Roofing recently launched a partnership with Mosaic, the “peer-to-peer solar financing platform for solar power.” American Solar is based in Scottsdale, so Arizona residents can get help when they decide to go solar.
“We love the peer-to-peer lending model for solar. Providing an easier way for people to save energy is a true win-win, and why our partnership with Mosaic is a real added value to our customers. Also, it’s a perfect time to offer this before the summer bills start to hit,” explained American Solar & Roofing President & CEO Joy Seitz.
Mosaic makes it easier for homeowners to get their home solar loans processed and for investors to put their money into solar projects that often help communities, like installations at schools.
Arizona has plenty of sunshine and open space, so large-scale solar is a good choice. Home and business owners too can take advantage of all the sunlight. Arizona historically has done fairly well in terms of home solar power systems, but recently utilities there have been very resistant to more growth.
For example, a utility in Phoenix has proposed rate increases that could do significant damage to solar power prospects there. “While these proposed changes are complex, this may be the most regressive recent move by a utility to kill solar in its service territory, which includes nearly one million customers in metropolitan Phoenix.”
To say a utility’s plan could kill solar power in its service area is strong language, but how else might you say it?
The Phoenix utility has a very high rate of residential solar adoption, so it at least appears the utility wants that to be reduced substantially or even eliminated.
American Solar and Roofing is located in Scottsdale, which is near Phoenix. Scottsdale is within the service area for the Salt River Project. So, it isn’t clear yet what will happen, but there are two competing perspectives. One is a utility that seems to want to curtail solar and the other is an emerging solar industry represented by organizations like American Solar and Roofing and Mosaic. They are trying an innovative partnership to get new, clean technology in the hands of citizens.
Salt River Project is one of Arizona’s largest utilities. Of course, one can understand how a utility would want to continue operating in a way that is beneficial or lucrative to itself. However, technological changes have clearly caught some utilities off-guard. For those utilities, one response has been to resist the change even if change benefits its customers.
But this attitude seems to be un-American, because it restricts consumer freedom regarding a viable energy alternative. A wave of residential solar power is likely to grow because of the dramatic drop in solar power costs. Mosaic makes financing easier, and finance was one of the barriers previously. Now that solar costs have dropped, for some homeowners going solar is a slam dunk because they could save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a home solar system.
