A unit of US Bancorp and privately-held SolarCity has teamed up to wire homes and businesses in California, Oregon and Arizona, with no upfront costs, while taking advantage of government tax credits. The agreement, for which no value was disclosed, allows US Bancorp Community Development Corp., a unit of US Bancorp, to take advantage of tax breaks including a solar tax credit. In return, the bank pays for the purchase and installation of solar power by SolarCity, which markets and maintains the systems. Homeowners and businesses purchase the electricity generated from their roofs. “We are able to offer a home owner or a business owner a solar financing solution that costs them less than if they bought the same amount of electricity from the utility,” said Lyndon Rive, chief executive of SolarCity, from company headquarters in Foster City, Calif. Homeowners also may choose to pay the cost of the installation, which can run to US$20,000 and has a payback period for eight to 10 years, Rive said. Darren Van’t Hof, vice president of the US Bancorp unit said in a telephone interview from St. Louis that the two companies have created a tax equity fund which finances the solar lease plan. The joint fund reaps the benefits of the tax breaks, sharing the revenue stream between the bank and SolarCity, he said. The company takes care of maintenance for 15 years, after which a homeowner can renew the plan, upgrade, buy the system or have it removed, Rive said. Rive said the company already has a six-month backlog and the agreement, signed a few days ago, will allow it to whittle away that backlog and sell more systems.
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