Municipal Property Tax Financing

In solar, innovations in financing are as important as innovations in technology. The city of Berkeley has pioneered a novel approach to overcome a major hurdle to the residential solar market--high up-front costs.

The Model

Vote Solar has written a paper describing the model, noting its benefits and potential pitfalls, and providing policy makers with a primer for implementing this option in communities across America. Find it here (pdf)

Key States Analysis

Law students under the guidance of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, a top notch law firm providing generous pro bono support to Vote Solar, prepared an analysis of the authority of municipal governments to implement similar programs in some key states. Find it here (pdf).

Draft RFP

If you want a draft RFP for getting an independent administrator for the program, well, you are in luck, here (pdf).

Berkeley Documents

The City of Berkeley has posted many of their relevant documents (as well as questions and answers) here.