US solar project launches without government help

NPR : SolarCity has begun a major project to install solar electricity systems on the roofs of houses on US military bases. Unlike solar panel manufacturer Solyndra , which declared bankruptcy in August after having received $528 million in federal loan guarantees, SolarCity is doing the installation without government help. The total project, which will cost around $1 billion and include 120 000 homes, will be the largest residential deployment of solar in the country to date, writes Elizabeth Shogren for NPR. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is providing up to $350 million, is working with SolarCity to secure the necessary financing. Although solar still only provides a small portion of US electricity, the solar installation industry has doubled in each of the past two years. “The fact that SolarCity is now able to attract money, I think, really demonstrates how mainstream solar has become, how confident investors are in both the technology, its performance and its returns,” said Rhone Resch, who heads the Solar Energy Industries Association.