Pay for the Power, Not the Panels

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clipped from www.nytimes.com Solar power is simple, clean and easily installed, but manufacturing solar panels is expensive, which is why this energy source is out of reach for many residences and businesses solar power companies have discovered that they can attract more buyers if they act as financial intermediaries as well as suppliers of equipment and systems used to generate electricity from sunlight Creative financing “tears down the Berlin Wall of capital-cost barriers and opens up a floodgate of installations SunPower Corporation The new financial methods are propelling the recent surge in photovoltaic solar power installations Some 148 megawatts of solar capacity came online in 2007, up 46.5 percent from the 101 megawatts installed the previous year Using a “power-purchase agreement” model, or P.P.A., companies like SunEdison L.L.C. and SunPower take on the cost of installing solar panels on customers’ roofs Morgan Stanley agreed to provide $190 million to finance solar projects being developed by SunPowe