How Solar Mosaic Works | Solar Mosaic | Invest in Solar Projects Anywhere

1) Invest in a Project

Choose a solar project to invest in. Each project has been carefully vetted by Solar Mosaic to ensure that your investment creates local clean energy, green jobs and benefits a site host that is financially secure and has a good roof.

2) Your Project is Installed

After you and all your friends invest in the project, the project will be installed. You’ll receive updates as your project is funded, installed and connected to the grid.

3) Get Paid Back

As your investment produces clean solar electricity, the building owner will save thousands of dollars on their utility bills. Low monthly lease payments along with other incentives will go towards paying you back. All of our current projects operate under a zero-interest loan model, meaning that if you put $100 in, you’ll get $100 back over the number of years specified in the project.

________________________________________________________________________________

A Brief History of Solar Finance

The biggest barrier to going solar has always been the high up-front cost of solar installations. Ten years ago, a group of innovators (including some of Mosaic’s advisors) sparked a revolution when they came up with the concept of a Solar Lease. Instead of requiring people to pay for their solar installation upfront, the installations could be financed by third parties. Similar to a car lease, with solar leases someone else owns the solar equipment and leases it for use. Thanks to this new innovation, building owners are able to begin saving money from day 1 and make monthly lease payments totalling less than what they would pay the utility for the same amount of energy.

Solar Leases have massively expanded the solar industry, creating a whole new sub-industry called solar finance. Traditionally, the major players in solar finance have been the banks, utilities, and private equity firms. Solar Mosaic takes this model of solar leasing and opens it up so anyone can invest in solar projects and Bank on the Sun. We want to help everyone take part in the emerging solar gold rush.

________________________________________________________________________________

FAQs

How are the projects financed?
Instead of financing the projects through expensive bank loans, we finance our projects through the power of the crowd. The host organization leases the solar installation and pays monthly lease payments to Solar Mosaic which we then use to pay back the crowd. With electricity rates predicted to rise 5-8% per year and the solar lease cost only increasing by 3.5% annually, the host organization is able to save thousands of dollars, even after paying back the investors.

Why don’t I get interest on my solar share?
The U.S. has strict laws governing paying interest to non-accredited (meaning everyday people) investors. We’re currently working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to be able to offer you a return on your investment by summer of 2012. We hope that once we can offer a return we’ll open the floodgates to investment in solar by making it easy for everyone to Bank on the Sun.

What is a Solar Lease Agreement?
A Solar Lease Agreement is a type of solar financing where someone else owns the installation on your property, and you pay to use the power the system produces on a monthly basis. Solar Mosaic uses Solar Lease Agreements so that hosts can start saving money from Day 1 and our non-profit partners can access tax incentives. Our leases pass the savings from zero-interest rate financing from crowdfunding (as compared to excessive bank rates) to the site hosts.

What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding enables regular people to join together to finance a project. Many community buildings like homes, schools, churches and non-profits don’t have the upfront capital to pay for solar installations, and many individuals want to go solar but don’t own a home in a place where solar makes economic sense. Through crowdfunding, we make it easy for organizations to go solar and enable everyday people to own a piece of a solar project.

Is my information secure with Solar Mosaic?
Yes! Our site uses a secure encrypted checkout process and the best practices in e-commerce security. All sensitive information is sent over https only, and we do not store your credit card information after the transaction is processed. In addition, our development team constantly monitors the system for potential security issues and addresses them immediately.

How does Solar Mosaic make money?
Solar Mosaic takes a standard developer fee from installers and a small percentage of lease revenue to cover our administrative and management costs for the duration of the project. Additionally, we earn lead generation fees by generating projects for solar developers. By negotiating lower costs with installers and ensuring capital efficiency we are able to provide our services without adding to the overall cost of projects.

Are today’s solar technologies reliable?
Today’s solar technologies are efficient, safe and reliable. The panels in our systems come with a manufacturer’s warranty of 25 years and an expected lifespan of 40 years. The inverters are warranted for 15 years and installers have additional warranties for the whole system. Additionally, Solar Mosaic only contracts with experienced installers who meet NABCEP certification.

Will the building still be connected to the electricity grid?
Yes. At night and during peak hours of use, the building will be drawing electricity from the grid, and at other times the surplus electricity from the system will go back into the grid.

How can I create my own Solar Mosaic?
Are you affiliated with a school, place of worship, non-profit or small business that wants to go solar? Or are you a solar developer who is interested in accessing low-cost crowdfunded capital? Either way, Solar Mosaic can help. Visit Finance Your Solar Project to get started today.

How can Solar Mosaic help develop my project?
Solar Mosaic’s goal is to create prosperity through solar by making community solar development easy for groups and developers who are serious about creating more solar. Though we don’t currently have the capacity to directly support groups who are just beginning, we’ve designed an interactive guide that is full of information and useful tools such as a free site assessment and coaching call. Once we’ve both reached the stage where we can help each other, we’ll help you tackle the challenges of going solar by handling many aspects of the project development process. If you think you're at this stage, please fill out our Go Solar with Mosaic form.