SolarCity and Google have announced the birth of a $280 million fund to finance residential solar projects. SolarCity has built 15 project funds with seven different partners to finance more than $1.25 billion in solar projects.
“Google is setting an example that other leading American companies can follow,” SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said. The fund is also SolarCity’s largest of a total 15. The company has seven partners for a total $1.28 billion in solar project financing funds.
“Google has made a series of investments in renewable energy because they make business sense and help deploy a range of solutions that can help move us toward a clean energy future,” said Rick Needham, director of green business operations at Google. “Now, through this partnership with SolarCity, we’re excited to be making our first investment in distributed residential solar, making it easier and more affordable for consumers across the country, including our own employees, to use renewable energy at their own homes.”
SolarCity has more than 15,000 solar projects completed or underway with 12,000 of those customers choosing SolarCity’s financing options. The firm has 1,200 employees; 600 were hired in the last year.
Google has invested a total of $680 million in a wide range of clean energy technologies.