SolarCity Partners With Incapital To Offer Solar Retirement Investing
If you have been, or are interested in investing in solar bonds through an IRA or financial adviser, you might be intrigued by this latest development.
Solar Bonds were created in 2014 by SolarCity so Americans who wanted to do so could invest in them, instead of having to buy stock in solar companies. These solar bonds are now available through 500 U.S. financial institutions. Annual interest rates go up to 5.45% with maturities up to 15 years and a minimum amount of $1,000.
In this case, SolarCity is proving that creative financing is an important aspect of the growing solar economy. Their business model is different, and offering a way for long-term retirement investors to buy solar bonds and provide good returns seems like a potentially fruitful match.
Investing to “make a difference” is sometimes called impact investing, and of a particular kind – green investing. Green mutual funds have been around for a long time. For example, Green Century Funds has a fossil-fuel free investment opportunity called the Balanced Fund.
Incapital is no newbie to impact investing, either. It has been involved for ten years, and offers programs for individual investors. So far, its investors have helped create 200,000 jobs in developing countries and the United States. 10,000 homes have also been refurbished or constructed through its impact investments.
Of course, a mutual fund is different from what SolarCity is offering. The solar leasing company appears poised for growth. It has about 190,00 customers and one source says it could get to one million by 2018.
You can learn more about SolarCity solar bonds on the company’s site.
So, would you invest any of your retirement money in solar bonds? Have you already invested in solar companies?
What’s to stop Tesla from offering EV bonds or energy storage bonds, if it begins to produce and sell home energy storage batteries?
Image Credit: SolarCity
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