Kilowatt Financial, a clean energy consumer finance company, today has closed a $200 million debt warehouse facility with Citi to finance residential solar power systems for homeowners. The transaction will enhance Kilowatt and Citi’s partnership in the growing demand to residential energy efficiency.
Kilowatt’s lending program helps households to own their own residential solar system with no money down and with loan terms of up to 20 years at competitive interest rates. The solar loans and solar systems will offer people with alternative to power purchase agreement while reduce owners’ electricity bills. Kilowatt and Citi expect to create asset-backed securities from the loans and to develop a market for institutional investors to provide long-term, low-cost capital to finance residential solar power.
Kilowatt offers solar financing across the United States, making solar ownership easier and more accessible for consumers in all of its markets, including those in which solar financing has not been widely available. By offering solar installers and homeowners the option of financing residential solar projects through loans, Kilowatt and Citi are making clean, renewable solar energy systems more affordable to more consumers in more markets.
Last year Kilowatt and Citi announced a $100 million debt warehouse facility to finance energy efficiency consumer loans to fund a broad range of upgrades, including HVAC equipment, water heaters, windows, roofing and insulation.
“We are proud to continue our support for Kilowatt Financial on its mission to help consumers run their homes with low-cost renewable energy,” said Marshal Salant, Global Head of Alternative Energy Finance at Citi. “This transaction is a great example of Citi’s commitment to sustainable growth and to financing clean energy and energy efficiency improvement projects.”
In February, Citi announced a goal to lend, invest and facilitate a total of $100 billion within the next 10 years to finance activities that reduce the impacts of climate change and create environmental solutions that benefit people and communities, Salant noted. The $200 million debt warehouse facility with Kilowatt Financial represents an important step toward Citi’s $100 billion goal.
