One way to help homeowners and businesses switch to renewable energy? Buy a piece of their solar panels.
Above, a group of men working on solar panelling. Loans made to help building owners in Connecticut install solar panels or buy new boilers and lighting systems have been transformed into financial products that pay interest rates of up to 6 percent a year.
One of the big raps on energy efficiency is that it’s hard for people and companies to imagine it as a capital-I investment. Sure, you get a quantifiable return on installing expensive new light bulbs today in the form of lower energy costs over time. But because purchasers of LEDS don’t get dividends or interest payments, it’s often difficult to regard them as anything other than a cost-saver.