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SolarCity gets $60 million in financing from PG&E Corp.

By Tiffany Hsu
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Solar panel installer SolarCity Corp. will get its newest round of financing from a more unusual source than the typical bank – PG&E Corp., parent of utility company Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Another PG&E Corp. subsidiary, Pacific Venture Capital, will provide $60 million in tax equity financing for SolarCity to install 1,000 solar power systems on homes and businesses.

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The panels are expected to be put in place in 2010, with the majority in California and some in Arizona and California. SolarCity has more than 1,700 solar customers in PG&E’s service area and more than 5,000 solar customers overall, according to the company.

Through power purchase agreements, customers will buy the electricity and skip the hefty upfront cost of installing the systems themselves. SolarCity will continue to own and operate all the equipment it places on rooftops.
PG&E shareholders will foot the bill, in return for Pacific Venture Capital receiving lease revenue from SolarCity customers and the windfall from federal investment tax credits and local rebates associated with the project.

-- Tiffany Hsu

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Tiffany Hsu

Tiffany Hsu is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote about the California economy, fast food, restaurants, retail and alternative energy for the Business section. A Bay Area native, UC Berkeley graduate and eternal Nor-Cal fan, she once worked for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She also did a stint at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where she developed a passion for sweet tea. She still has faith that someday she’ll find two economists who agree.

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