U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS– Virgin Islands Energy Office (VIEO) Director Kyle Fleming is pleased to announce a major milestone in the implementation of the long-awaited Solar Plus Financing Pilot Program. The Virgin Islands Energy Office alongside the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority conducted a closing ceremony for the first two loans under VIEO’s Solar Plus Financing (SPF) program. SPF is a Zero Money Down & 1% Interest loan program focused on providing homeowners affordable financing to install photovoltaic (PV) and battery backup systems that once commissioned will provide immediate utility bill savings.
The Solar Plus Financing program was launched as a pilot program aimed at providing approximately 80 homeowners with up to $30,000 in low-interest loans through a Department of Energy revolving loan fund. The VIEO had intended to leverage the pilot program to enable affordable solar solutions in the near term while seeking federal opportunities to bolster funding to expand the reach of accessible residential solar solutions across the community. In September the VIEO was awarded such an opportunity through the EPA’s Solar for All competitive grant. The VIEO Solar For All funding of $62.5 Million will build upon the lessons learned through the Solar Plus Financing Pilot Program to enable widespread deployment of residential rooftop & community solar systems across the territory. While the implementation of the EPA-funded Solar for All program will not begin until the third quarter of 2025, the VIEO is excited to begin deploying systems to approved applicants under the current Solar Plus Financing pilot program.
During the intimate closing ceremony hosted at the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) Estate Carlton conference room Director Fleming reflected on the passing of this significant milestone. SPF closed its application window in October of 2022 after eliciting strong interest from the public and attracting a large pool of over 350 recipients. He explained that despite initial estimates, ironing out all the intricate administrative details that would allow VIEO’s partner agency the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) to manage the loans over their 15-year life terms, and composing the framework required to enable the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) to bill the loanees directly on their utility bill, took longer than expected.
“Today we take a final, tangible step forward in our mission to deliver low to no-cost financing for green technology solutions to Virgin Islanders. These first loans closed under the Solar Plus Financing pilot program are the heralds of a new wave of financing options that the VIEO will be able to offer to the public thanks to upcoming initiatives such as the VIEO’s Solar For All (SFA) program that will launch in the third quarter of 2025. As I reflect on all the hard work and intense coordination that was required to make the SPF a program that will run for more than a decade, I want to extend my gratitude to the VIEO, WAPA, and VIEDA employees who devoted their best effort to bringing SPF to reality,” Director Fleming said.
The average homeowners participating in the Solar Plus Financing program have submitted plans that call for 5 kW of PV and 13 kWh of battery energy storage solutions (BESS) to be installed. When fully charged these renewably powered systems will meet the home’s energy demands, perfect for weathering the types of service interruptions most common in the territory. During the application process, applicants had their home’s energy profiles analyzed to ensure that the installed systems would realize a minimum of 10% immediate savings on their utility bill during the life-cycle of the 1% interest loan term.
