Action News Now published an article about PACE financing. Our own Sean McCreary was interviewed for the article.
Low income and middle class families who may not have been able to afford solar energy systems may now be able to take their homes off the grid thanks to a new federal initiative started by the Obama administration yesterday.
For the past seven years, the PACE program has helped low-income families in California receive solar energy, now a day after President Barack Obama announced a new solar power initiative, the program is now opened to more people than ever before.
When Sean McCreary began Urban Design Solar in 2006, solar power was only for those that could afford it.
But over the years, McCreary says solar has become more and more affordable.
A day after President Obama announced the clean energy savings for all initiative, solar energy is now available to everyone.
Now that we have the PACE program in our jurisdiction, it allows easier financing for these money saving products.
Part of the initiative, is the expansion of the property assessed clean energy financing, or pace program.
The program was started in 2009, and is aimed to provide low to moderate-income families with affordable solar.
In essence, it’s a loan on the home and not a loan on the home owner.
Homeowners who go solar through the PACE program are able to pay the cost through a lien their property tax bill.
And this is why it works for the low income people, if you pay monthly into an escrow account or you pay twice a year, that’s how you pay your property taxes. So if you bought today your first payment for this finance option isn’t going to start until November 2017.
Part of the scale up of the PACE program, includes opening up availability to homeowners with Federal Housing Administration insurance and veterans with a VA home loan, groups who may not have been able to afford solar without PACE.
Because it’s no money down and it’s not dependent on your FICO score, it opens the financing option to more people.
