New financing is available for Philly-area homeowners seeking to install rooftop solar
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Although the residential solar tax credits expire at the end of this month, solar installers and financers are pointing to another affordable option – leasing.
“The underlying economics of solar is still really strong despite federal policy changes that we’ve seen come down over the past year,” said Maryrose Myrtetus, executive director of the Philadelphia Green Capital Corporation. “Because of the expiration of that tax credit, there’s actually been a bigger push for leasing.”
The 30% tax credit for residential solar installations that expires at the end of 2025, applied to homeowners who paid the upfront costs and owned their solar panels. But the commercial solar tax credit, which provides leasing opportunities for homeowners, remains until the end of 2027. The financing for leasing works since third parties own the installation, and pass on all or part of their 30% tax credit to the customer.
“So the third party is still able to monetize the investment tax credit,” Myrtetus said. “The tax credit value is baked into the pricing of the lease.”
Still, some solar companies have already succumbed to the tax credit rollbacks. PosiGen, a major installer of solar panels on homes in Philadelphia, went bankrupt this year — citing the loss of tax credits.
The Philadelphia Green Capital Corporation specializes in financing clean energy projects and works directly with the Philadelphia Energy Authority to bankroll Solarize Greater Philadelphia, which has helped install solar panels on about 4,000 homes in Philadelphia since 2017.
With a new $3.2 million investment from Candide Group’s Afterglow Climate Justice Fund, PGCC will partner with the Capital Good Fund’s Pennsylvania BRIGHT solar leasing program to expand the number of residential solar leases in southeast Pennsylvania.
The Capital Good Fund is a nonprofit lender that has programs in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada that provides residential solar leases to households with gross annual incomes of less than $165,000. The Pennsylvania BRIGHT program provides leases with no money down and no credit score minimums.
“It really is accessible so that lower income people can take part in the savings that solar provides,” said Anika Wistar-Jones, executive vice president of America BRIGHT at the Capital Good Fund. “It’s not reserved just for the richer people who are able to do solar.”
Wistar-Jones said rooftop residential solar not only helps save money on electricity bills, but also helps tackle climate change.
“I think that’s the thing that I love most about solar is that it’s the intersection between wanting to do good for the world and wanting to do good for your pocketbook,” she said.