\r\n\r\nAt the utility scale level, the emergence of innovative financing\r\nvehicles such as green bonds is also facilitating deployment of the\r\ntechnology. The predictable and low-risk nature of solar generation\r\nmeans that it is ideally suited to debt finance. Green bonds are\r\nessentially a pooled investment which is then invested in the debt\r\nof many different projects, potentially in different countries or\r\njurisdictions, thereby reducing technology, political, regulatory\r\nand other risks via the portfolio effect. The long-dated nature of\r\nsolar farms with their (relatively, depending on location)\r\npredictable revenue streams, low risk (no moving parts, maintenance)\r\nand attractive returns relative to bond yields make them especially\r\nattractive to certain types of investor such as pension funds or\r\ninsurance companies, as well as companies looking to boost their\r\ngreen credentials while earning an attractive return on capital.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nAnd why not combine the two ideas?\r\nGreen bonds for rooftop solar!\r\n
\r\nJobs and industry right here in south Georgia;\r\nisn’t that what the Industrial Authority is for?\r\n
\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What if the Industrial Authority used its bond-issuing power to finance rooftop solar? And what if it combined that with utility-scale solar projects on its own industrial park lands, and for example at the airport, or at the new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant? Here’s the idea, in a report by Citi GPS, Energy Darwinism: The […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,23,24,449,178,55],"tags":[2355,8704,8701,7317,8702,12,7,8713,1605,8714,8767,6,8749,8727,295],"class_list":["post-7157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-renewable-energy","category-solar","category-transportation","category-vlcia","category-water","tag-airport","tag-economy","tag-georgia","tag-green-bonds","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-renewable-energy","tag-rooftop-solar","tag-solar","tag-transportation","tag-valdosta","tag-vlcia","tag-water","tag-withlacoochee-wastewater-treatment-plant"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-1Rr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7160,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions\/7160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"http:\/\/www.cleanbreak.ca\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Green-Bonds-300x177.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nIt is not just the technology that is evolving in the solar\r\nindustry; the financing of solar projects, both residential and\r\nutility-scale is evolving quickly. The most notable development here\r\nhas been in the form of solar leasing, whereby the rooftop panels\r\nare owned by a third party who effectively leases the rooftop from\r\nthe home\/factory\/office owner, the latter receiving payment normally\r\nthrough a reduction in electricity bills paid for by the lessee.\r\nThis provides the benefits of cheaper and cleaner solar electricity\r\nto the homeowner, whilst negating the need for the significant\r\ninitial capital outlay. The panel owner or lessee earns their return\r\nvia incentive mechanisms such as the U.S. Investment Tax Credit, and\r\nvia the sale of the electricity back to the local utility. This\r\nfinancing mechanism has proved particularly successful in the U.S.\r\nand is gaining traction in the UK, with companies in other countries\r\nlooking to follow suit.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n