Good news for Maryland homeowners: there’s a new way to make your solar project more affordable and climate-friendly. Climate First Bank, a mission-driven, FDIC-insured bank, has partnered with the Montgomery County Green Bank to offer a special solar loan rate just for local customers. Let’s dive into what this means for your solar plans and why this ethical, budget-friendly financing option could be the perfect fit for your clean energy journey.
Rates and access
This announcement is a culmination between innovation in solar finance and a local partner stepping up to do something amazing. Interest rates over the last couple years have certainly gone up so we’re thrilled to see some better rates available in Montgomery County, Maryland through this program. How does this program beat all the interest rates around? Montgomery County Green Bank is essentially paying all or part of the interest for the customer for the first ten years of the loan.
Thanks to this partnership, available rates are as low as 0% for income-qualified customers (including those who are likely without the tax liability to benefit from the federal 30% tax credit) for 10 years, and 7.99% for the remaining 20 years of the loan. The non income-qualified rate in Montgomery County is 4.99% for 10 years and then the same 7.99% for the remaining 20 years of the loan. (That is, Montgomery County Green Bank is paying the interest rate down by 3% points for the first third of its life.)
Climate First Bank offers 7.75% for market rate customers outside of Montgomery County who are not eligible for the Montgomery County Green Bank promotion. You can check if you’re located in an equity area within Maryland by referring to this interactive map. The program’s loan product offers the first 6 months with no payments, which can especially help if your solar comes online during the short days of winter and lowers your bill most in the summer cooling months. Your solar consultant can help you understand your savings on loan payments, energy bill payments etc with solar and compare loan products so you can see how this approach works for you.
Plus, this program features no dealer fees and a fully transparent, “large-print” process to avoid surprises or confusion. Long terms of 30.5 years (366 months) help these products provide lower interest rates, as Climate First Bank recently explained to Solar Builder Magazine in this highly informative interview with their EVP Chris Cucci. This product is also available for non-residential solar loans and we hope that local businesses take a look at their solar proposition in light of this great opportunity.
Qualifying and securing the loan
There are criteria including a credit score check (minimum 680) and income verification as well as a debt to income check (maximum 50% ratio) and a check for derogatory items like late payments and a debt-to-income check. They emphasize that real-time checks and fast decisions on approval set Climate First Bank powered by OneEthos apart from other providers. Loan origination fees like underwriting and documentation fees are rolled into the loan. The loan is secured with a UCC-1 statement on the solar panels at the location in case of a default.
Climate First Bank loans can also include construction loans to go along with solar, like roof replacement, as well as electrical upgrades or energy storage, so those can be discussed with your solar consultant. Your solar installer representative can also make sure you understand what can’t be included in your Climate First Bank loan, including water heating, cooking, and ventilation products.
Lowest monthly payment on 100% financing for solar
Because of the structure, term and 30-year fixed rates, this is now the lowest monthly payment available on 100% financing for solar. With re-amortization the monthly payments can only decrease, not increase. For example, the custom tee may put their solar tax credit toward the loan as a principal payment and contact the loan provider to request to re-calculate payments. The loan is not transferable, so the idea is to pay it off early from the proceeds of home sale in the event of a move.
We hope we’ve given you a complete, detailed look at this new solar lending promotion that we’re really excited about from a provider we’re really impressed with. Climate Bank is a B Corp and is striving to be the best partner in the industry and we definitely think there’s a lot to love about this historic collaboration with Montgomery County Green Bank. We look forward to helping more Maryland solar customers take advantage of this program soon.
