By Herman K. Trabish | GreenTech Meida
The SunPower partnership with new home builder KB Home (NYSE:KBH) has now accounted for more than 1,500 new solar homes.
SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY) launched a zero-down financing option for new home builders to expand the reach of the third party ownership finance model.
The percent of new homes built with solar doubled in 2012, growing from 8.3 percent at the end of 2011 to 16.5 percent at the end of last year, and is expected to top 20 percent by the end of 2013, according to a SunPower analysis drawn from California Building Industry Association (CBIA) and California Solar Initiative (CSI) data.
SolarCity, which has already bumped its kilowatts installed in new homes 300 percent this year compared to the same period in 2012, is now moving more aggressively. By taking the upfront expense onto its own balance sheet with a zero-down financing program, it allows builders to offer homebuyers the SolarCity lease/PPA option without pre-payment.
