GE Money will finance solar projects

ROSEVILLE, Calif., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- California-based Solar Power Inc. announced GE Money will provide solar financing services.

Yes! Solar Solutions stores, owned by Solar Power Inc., will be able to offer financing for their products and services from GE Money, a unit of General Electric Co., the Roseville, Calif., firm announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, customers can get low-interest loans to finance solar-panel installations, which cost about $30,000 for an average four-person home, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Typically, about 40 percent of the cost can be covered by rebates and subsidies. The remaining $18,000 can now be financed, the paper said.

GE Money's GEOSmart Financing program typically provides 20- or 25-year loans at 7 percent interest for residential solar-panel installations, the paper said.

Under those terms, the monthly interest payment is lower than the electricity bill the system replaced, said Solar Power Chief Executive Steve Kircher, according to the paper.

The first store was launched in October, and by the end of 2008 the company said it hopes to have three others in the Sacramento region and as many as 63 statewide, the paper said.