Innovative solar crowdfunding platform Mosaic has been at the forefront of raising capital to finance solar energy projects. Launched back in 2010, the peer to peer platform quickly caught the attention of many homeowners and developers interested in the possibilities of installing solar energy systems; saving money and making an energy statement simultaneously. As the cost of installing solar has declined the savings have increased. According to Mosaic a new solar system is installed in the United States every four minutes. That’s pretty incredible.
Recently an article in the Atlantic outlined the evolving process of solar finance. Up to now, much of the solar home installs have been driven by leasing. Homeowners dodge the up front cost of purchasing the system while adding solar to their household via the lease. At least in part, this was driven by the way clean energy is currently subsidized in the United States. Tax credits are generated via solar leases – thus incentivizing both homeowners and installers to go down this path. But these tax incentives are expected to decline over the next few years. While that means a shift in how solar is financed – Mosaic has positioned their platform to help fill this gap. No government aid necessary.
Now Mosaic definitely is on a mission to change the world. They see a future of renewable energy void of dirty fossil fuels. Everyone wants clean energy. But at what cost? Mosaic is part of a growing seismic shift in approach. By recognizing important social goals are more successful when everyone benefits not just the recipient of government largesse – projects are more sustainable. In their model the home owner gets clean, affordable energy financed via the crowd. The investor gets to make a respectable return on their money – while simultaneously doing their part in the world to make it a better place for all. To date over $8.5 million has been invested from thousands of individuals via their platform. They have also established a 100% repayment rate due to their high quality loans. Now the numbers are small today, but this is just the beginning of the solar revolution. According to Mosaic more solar installations have been completed in the past 18 months than the entire 30 years prior.
Mosaic is not sitting still and enjoying the ride. They continue to look for new strategies to build the momentum. Later this month Mosaic will be launching Mosaic Places, a new portion of their site that will allow people to join together and get their favorites locations – wherever that may be – to install solar.
Mosaic recently launched a new product to streamline the process for homeowners. And why not? Hey if my house was not surrounded by trees and built in a climate that has way too many days of clouds – I would check out my options in a second.
If you want to shift part of your energy needs to solar, simply hit the Mosaic site and go to Mosaic Home Solar and find out in days if your home improvement project is viable. The team at Mosaic wants to make it as simple as possible. A quick online application is followed up by a call to review how much money the homeowner can save if they are approved.
Even better there is no up front cost. Investors finance the project – the homeowner gets the system installed and once it is completed the owner makes payments to the investors who supplied the funds on the Mosaic platform. No challenging and frustrating trip to the local bank – who would probably give you a funny look just before they said no…
Sarah Shanley-Hope, an Oakland homeowner who used the Mosaic Home Solar Loan, shared her impressions of the new program;“Mosaic’s loan maximized my savings from solar and let me get panels installed for zero dollars up front. I also feel really great about and committed to making payments back to people (the “crowd”), rather than a bank.”
Mosaic co-founder and CEO Billy Parish clarified their determination in creating a low friction process to finance home solar;
“We’re dead-set on our mission to maximize benefits for people. We cut out the middlemen so homeowners save more with the Mosaic Home Solar Loan.”
Since crowdfunding solar loans generates a lower monthly payment than going the traditional banking financing path – the Mosaic option can be pretty compelling.
Parish recently shared his vision for the future;
“We have the technology we need to create abundant clean energy for and by the people. Now it’s time to start breaking down the barriers that keep people from participating. We need to change the laws that prevent communities and individuals from creating their own energy projects, or that make it difficult for them to access government incentive programs. We need to create and scale businesses that make it possible for people to invest in, own, share, lease, and, above all, prosper from clean energy.”