The publicly funded Connecticut Clean Energy Finance & Investment Authority has transitioned one of its solar loan programs to a private, $100 million partnership led by a Massachusetts credit union.
The deal marks the first time that a public Connecticut green bank program has been fully handed off to a private capital partner.
“This is how the green bank model works,” said Bryan Garcia, CEFIA president and CEO. “It allows the market to sustainably grow to where it can be supported by private financing.”
The Connecticut Solar Loan pilot program was developed in conjunction with Boston-based Sungage Financial to provide loans for homeowners to install solar arrays with small down payments and low monthly payments. Since its inception in March 2013, the program has financed more than 200 products while deploying 1,700 kilowatts of solar arrays. CEFIA ended up putting $5 million into the program.
“In this case, we were looking to help consumers find an easy and affordable loan product,” Garcia said.
Now, Massachusetts-based Digital Federal Credit Union has provided a $100 million fund for Sungage to run the solar loan program.
As for the $5 million in public money CEFIA used to transition the Sungage program to this point, the green bank in May packaged that financing along with other programs that are now supported by a $24 million investment from California private capital provider Clean Fund.
