Google has already made massive investments in the clean energy sector, but the majority of investments have been in major projects like innovative solar technology, large-scale wind farms, and similar power generation centers. Consumers can also take power into their own hands – some what literally – thanks to homeowner solutions like those offered by SolarCity. Google is helping to fund these efforts with a $280 million investment.
SolarCity has a financing model that lowers the up-front cost to consumers. Rather than buying the solar panels, the consumer leases the panels. SolarCity then guarantees the panels – providing installation, maintenance, repairs, support, and even guaranteeing a specific power output based on the consumer’s region. Each month the homeowner pays a set lease fee for the panels, but the initial research indicates that for many the amount spent on leasing the equipment is lower than the amount saved by using the clean energy.
Even when tabulating the lease cost, the savings are apparent. In the example cited above, the homeowner is saving roughly $100 each month and will predictably save about $16,000 over the term of the lease. This investment moves Google’s clean energy efforts into the consumer sector, pushing for a more renewable form of energy use for homeowners that simultaneously lets the homeowner save on their utility costs.
This is the largest single clean energy project that Google has invested in to date. All told, the company has invested more than two-thirds of a million dollars in clean energy efforts. The strong majority of that investment has happened during the last year.
[via the Official Google Blog]
