Don’t Like the Solar Buying Process? Start Your Own Loan Company

greentechmediaMay 14, 2018143

In 2009, Sara Ross and her husband bought a dilapidated farmhouse in Massachusetts, intending to turn it into a net-zero-energy home.

Solar was an important part of the plan. And then came the price tag: $81,000 in cash. Their local solar installer had no financing options available at that time.

Ross cobbled the money together, but she became obsessed with the buying process: "How are other members of our family going to do this? How are our friends supposed to do this? How is this supposed to work? How are we going to scale this awesome thing if it's so very hard?"

Finally, she harnessed that obsession (and her six-year-old daughter's college fund) and started a solar loan company, Sungage Financial. This was before anyone else was serious about solar loans. Today, more rooftop solar in the U.S. is financed through loans than leases. 

In this week's edition of the live podcast series Watt It Takes, Ross sits down with Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch to discuss how she built Sungage -- evolving from solar customer to solar entrepreneur. 

Listen to our other episodes of Watt It Takes:

  • Nancy Pfund’s Pro Tips for Getting Started in Cleantech
  • SunPower Founder Dick Swanson’s Guide to Launching a Cleantech Startup
  • Lessons From the Fall of Sungevity
  • Dan Shugar, the K​ing Midas of Solar
  • A History of Greentech Media With Scott Clavenna

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