U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS– The Virgin Islands Energy Office (VIEO) is proud to announce that this week it has closed on over a dozen renewable energy loans for homeowners through its Solar Plus Financing (SPF) pilot program. The seventeen low interest loans, which combined will enable the installation of over $500,000 worth of solar and battery energy storage systems, were all closed for $0 down.
Over the course of the coming weeks VIEO approved solar and battery vendors will work to complete the installation of renewable energy systems designed to save each participating homeowner a minimum of 10% off their old utility bills. The 10% minimum savings accounts for the net savings from the solar install plus the monthly financing repayment that will be applied directly to their bill. When finished, this latest wave of SPF funded installations will bring the program’s total installed capacity of solar to over 136 kW, alongside about 251 kWh of battery energy storage.
Brenda Benjmain is no stranger to VIEO programs, having previously taken advantage of the Sun Power Loan program the agency ran during the 2010s to install a solar water heater. With a utility bill that routinely crossed north of $700 a month, Benjamin said that applying for a low to no interest renewable energy and battery storage loan from VIEO was a “no brainer.” She praised VIEO’s staff for the attentiveness they showed throughout the loan process, especially since getting finally approval took longer than she expected. Benjamin credited her ability to successfully navigate the application process down to being unafraid to make follow up calls to VIEO staff, and a dedication to double checking her paperwork for completeness prior to submitting it.
SPF closed its application window in October of 2022 after eliciting strong interest from the public and garnering over 350 applications. The program is funded and administered by VIEO in partnership with the Virgin islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) who manages the loans over their 15 year life cycle, and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) who is responsible for recouping the loan repayments by directly charging the consumer on their utility bill.
The homeowners who’ve applied for SPF have on average submitted plans that call for 5 kW of PV and 13.5 kWh of battery energy storage solutions (BESS) to be installed. When fully charged these renewably powered batteries will be able to meet the home’s energy demands for hours at a time, perfect for weathering the types of service interruptions most common in the territory. During the application process enrollees had their home’s energy profiles analyzed to ensure that the system’s that they invested in would be able to realize a 10% savings over their historic utility bill during the life of the 1% interest loan.
Alexis Leycock is a new homeowner and said that she wants to do everything she can in her power to make sure she was in control of her utility bill. She said that she immediately recognized SPF as a “great offer” and is pleased with the size of the solar and battery system that she was able to purchase with VIEO’s help.
“I am excited that my bill will be lowered,” Leycock said.
