Admirals Bank, a leading national provider of residential renewable energy financing, recently agreed to participate in the Solarize Asheville initiative to offer interested homeowners innovative loan products to subsidize residential solar systems and installations. On August 29, 2013 a workshop titled, "Solar 101," was held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville to generate interest among homeowners within the Asheville city limits who may have considered purchasing solar panels for their homes. Keynote speakers at this workshop included Wilson Riskerson of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Patrick Murphy, a Relationship Manager and Solar Financing Expert of Admirals Bank, and representatives of Sundance Power Systems, the exclusive solar installer chosen for the Solarize Asheville initiative. Solarize Asheville was organized by the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute and this is the first non-profit project of this nature to launch in the Southeast. Solarize Asheville opens up a tremendous opportunity for homeowners in the area to take advantage of financing options and purchase home solar systems. Homeowner enrollment for the Solarize project began August 12, 2013 and will continue to run through October 11, 2013. The state of North Carolina currently offers residents who purchase solar systems a tax credit up to 35% of the total purchase cost of the system. Additionally, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 homeowners are eligible for a federal personal income tax credit up to 30% of the purchase cost of their approved renewable energy system, without a maximum limit. Tax credits reserved by the government pooled with local North Carolina incentives permit homeowners to be reimbursed up to 65% of the total cost of a residential system. The tax credits offered in North Carolina are significantly higher compared to most states in the country, making this an ideal location for the Solarize project. The loan programs designed by Admirals Bank allow homeowners to borrow for residential solar systems, and apply any rebates, tax credits or incentive monies they may receive to the principal balance of their loan within the first 24 months of the fund date. Robert Banaski, Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Banking and Operations at Admirals Bank stated, "North Carolina is an ideal market to host a Solarize initiative. Our Bank's financing products, coupled with local and federal tax credits make home solar energy an attractive purchase. We greatly value the opportunity to be the exclusive financing resource for this project, and judging from the success we have witnessed from other Solarize projects, we trust this will be very well received." Over the past 18 months Admirals Bank has significantly contributed to the considerable successes of two additional Solarize projects in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In early 2012, Admirals Bank participated in the first Solarize initiative, Solarize Massachusetts, and assisted homeowners in Hopkinton, Millbury and Sutton obtain the necessary funds to purchase solar systems. Earlier this year the Bank also signed on with Solarize Connecticut to offer homeowners in Durham, CT financing for residential systems. This particular initiative resulted in solar panel installations on over 100 homes in Durham producing over 1.017 million watts of clean energy. Mr. Banaski concluded, "Our Bank is committed to providing renewable energy lending on a national level. We regularly conduct market analyses to locate unique areas, like North Carolina, where homeowner incentives are high so we can further simplify the procurement of residential solar systems by offering our lending products." Admirals Bank
PDF
