Solar panel financing with PACE programs (image from U.S. Army Environmental Command on Flickr)

One promising program is Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), which allows local government and private property owners to give low interest loans to people that want to go solar.

In Palm Desert, California, the municipality is working to help local governments overcome obstacles from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.  In fact, the city is voting to allocate $25,000 as funding for a non-profit education and advocacy organization, “Energy Independence America” to be operated by EcoMotion.

The Palm Desert press release states (thanks to Jim Jenal):

Palm Desert to Again Lead on Clean Energy Financing Kicks Off Formal PACE Advocacy Effort to Overcome Federal Obstacles Palm Desert, California, the city that spearheaded Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing in 2008, is leading the charge to overcome federal obstacles placed in the way of this popular program. Palm Desert has committed initial seed funding of $25,000 to EcoMotion to form a non-profit education and advocacy organization for PACE, called Energy Independence America, and is urging cities and counties throughout the country to get behind this important effort. Interested parties can request to be on the list for Energy Independence America updates.

So-called PACE financing of solar panels through local government has been heralded as “one of the most innovative municipal finance programs in modern history,” according to The Harvard Business Review.  In the past 5 years, the programs had taken off in half the states in the U.S., but on July 6, 2010, the Federal Home Finance Agency (FHFA), caretaker of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, summarily  that it would no longer honor mortgages with PACE liens securing residential energy improvements.

As a result, many PACE programs in the U.S. have stopped.  Even since Palm Desert and other municipalities have sued the FHFA, nothing has changed.  Yet, Palm Desert continues its efforts to get PACE off the ground and allow people that want to install solar panels to do so with government assistance.

Last month, the Palm Desert City Council voted to support a nationwide effort to overturn FHFA’s administrative determination.  The program, called Energy Independence America, aims to “reach out to all stakeholders affected by FHFA’s decision, from public entities that benefit from PACE programs to the private homeowners who benefit from efficiency and generation improvements, as well as the manufacturers and contractors who install them.”

Jim Ferguson, former Councilmember and Mayor of Palm Desert, is a key spokesman for Energy Independence America:

“We are going to exert every effort possible on the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government so they see the short sightedness of preventing homeowners from spending their own money to cure our nation’s environmental and energy woes. We’ve had a huge outpouring of cities and states looking to Palm Desert to, again, take the lead on clean energy financing.”

Its great to see Palm Desert setting the PACE for solar panel financing by local government.

Do you have your own thoughts or experiences in this regard? Please share in the comments below:

Will PACE loans be available to help you install solar panels in the future?

Property Assessed Clean Energy loans (commonly known as PACE), which allow homeowners to install solar panels or make other renewable energy or efficiency improvements through low-interest loans that are paid off through a voluntary increase in property taxes, are no longer available in California.

Whether the other 20 states that provide for PACE programs will also be affected remains to be seen.

The decision last week follows a court ruling that seems to be responding to the announcement of the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) that claimed PACE programs could not take precedence over primary mortgage loans.  In a cautionary move, California pulled $30 million in federal stimulus funds that were originally earmarked for PACE programs in 5 counties.

Sadly, the programs would have resulted in the creation of 4,400 green jobs, while offsetting 187,000 tons of CO2 emissions over the next 2 years.

What can we do to help make solar panels more affordable?

So, what next?

California AG, Jerry Brown, has filed a lawsuit against the FHFA in an effort to save PACE.  Beyond that, U.S. Congressional Representatives are introducing legislation to override the FHFA.

There are three main activities that you can engage in to help out.

• Contact your Member of Congress and Senators today – and urge them to pass legislation immediately to save PACE
• Contact your local newspaper
• Pass a resolution in your city or county supporting PACE

California Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Task Force has requested full reallocation of the PACE funding by September 30, 2010.

Stay tuned to find out what happens next with PACE programs….

Solar panel financing through property tax assessments

Solar panel financing is getting more common, as well as more creative!  We all know that one of the biggest hurdles to going solar is the upfront cost to do so.

Fortunately, there are a number of cities across the United States that are helping consumers install solar panels with a unique financing structure.  Homeowners may now apply for low-interest loans for solar improvements, through local government, which are then paid off through a property tax increase.

Want to know how it works?  Here is a video explaining California Assembly Bill 811:

Tap into solar financing loans through local government programs

California is not the only state that offers solar panel loans through local government.  If you live in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia or Wisconsin your state legislature has also passed legislation that authorizes municipalities to establish Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs.

Yet, individual cities within these states must step forward to set up a solar panel loan program.

It is easier than you might think.

Here’s what you need to do (set aside 1/2 hour and you are done):

1) Download the sample support letter and our Vote Solar PACE guide that walks cities through the process of establishing a PACE program (or download UC Berkeley’s more detailed PACE Guide here).

2) Personalize the letter, including your mayor’s address.

3) Print the documents

4) Send the letter and the Introduction to PACE to your Mayor.

5) Email Annie annie@votesolar.org to let her know you took action so she can follow-up with your Mayor’s office.

Take a small amount of time to make a big difference.  Helping to set up solar panel loan programs through local government can encourage many more people to convert to the renewable energy resource – particularly when the upfront cost is minimized.

Do you live in an area that offers solar panel loans?  Have you or a friend tapped into the program?

We want to hear from you!