Feb 21, 2025 | Txses Impact
In each Solar Report newsletter, we feature one of our highly regarded Platinum Business Members with an exclusive interview. This month, TXSES Communications Director Tamara Kowalski reached out to Inclusive Prosperity Capital, Inc. (IPC) Smart-E Loan Program National Director Madeline Priest to learn about the company’s mission, accomplishments, and impacts on customers.
Origins and Leadership
Inclusive Prosperity Capital, Inc. (IPC) is a non-profit clean energy financing organization dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to the benefits of clean energy and resilience. Spun out of the Connecticut Green Bank in 2018, IPC focuses on aligning investment capital and financing programs with organizations, projects, and community initiatives that benefit underserved markets.
I have worked in the residential clean energy and energy efficiency space for 15 years. My first energy efficiency job was a three-year, 14 town, grassroots organizing campaign to get more energy audits and residential rooftop solar completed in the state of Connecticut. Then, in 2013, I moved to the Connecticut Green bank where I managed its residential Smart-E Loan and Solar for All programs, designed for underserved consumers while ensuring strong consumer protections, including traditional credit and alternative credit underwriting strategies. Thanks to those programs Connecticut reached “beyond parity” for residential rooftop solar penetration in low-income census tracts and communities of color.
Mission and Vision
We provide a gateway to inclusive prosperity by engaging with communities impacted most by climate change. We invest in clean energy and resilience in partnership with local initiatives and organizations to provide energy security, climate justice, and economic growth. We believe everyone should have access to the benefits of clean energy and resilience. Together, we can create change in underinvested neighborhoods and underserved markets to achieve inclusive prosperity.
Approach to Projects
We truly believe that contractors are the face of the clean energy industry in the residential market and we designed our Smart-E Loan program to be easy for lenders, contractors, and homeowners. With flexible timing of loan disbursements to meet industry needs, low contractor fees, low loan rates, long terms, and an easy application for your customers, we feel like the product is a real no brainer!
Career Impact
Meeting with and listening to the needs of our contractors has been the most impactful. I’ve learned so much about different business models, policies, technology advancements, and issues. I love when our contractors tell me their customers’ stories with pride. Together, we help real people and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.
Key Accomplishments
I take a lot of pride in the real impact our program makes for communities. I love hearing stories from small, local businesses that were able to double the size of their crew with access to easy, affordable financing solutions. It makes me very proud to hear how this program made the dream of going solar a possibility for a family who is trying to save money to make ends meet.
See IPC success stories.
Industry Surprises and Dynamics
Even though each state has unique solar policies, so many things are a universal experience! Customers want to gain control of their energy costs. Everyone wants a path to do so that is easy and doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary barriers and is affordable.
Challenges Faced
Making connections with folks who haven’t heard of us or our track record of running great financing programs for over 10 years! We might be new to Texas, but we’re not new to solar financing. We’ve worked with small businesses and local lenders for over a decade, helping them grow and serve more customers.
Unique Contributions or Initiatives
In addition to the Smart-E Loan Program, IPC is proud to lead the Community Power Coalition, which was awarded $249.3 million under the EPA’s Solar for All program. This transformative program is designed to scale innovative residential-serving community solar and multifamily solar development and deliver meaningful benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities across 46 states, including Texas, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. If you are a community solar or multifamily solar developer, you can learn more about the program and sign up for our mailing list here.
Future Outlook
We are really looking forward to adding more Smart-E lenders, expanding our list of eligible contractors, and serving more Texans in their journey to clean energy and energy independence.
Final Thoughts
To learn more about the Smart-E Loan program and how you can offer it to your customers visit our website.
Feb 21, 2025 | Consumer Confidence
A guide for U.S. homeowners on the process of getting rooftop solar panels from the U.S. Solar Energy Technologies Office.
(August 4, 2021)
So you’re thinking about joining the 3 million U.S. homeowners who have gone solar. Solar energy will help you save on your monthly electricity bills and combat climate change, but what needs to happen to get those solar panels on your roof?
View this webpage in Spanish. Vea esta página web en Español.
Along with understanding the solar installation process, being familiar with your individual circumstances, like the age of your roof, can help you be a more informed solar consumer. Here are the steps to take to get powered by sunshine.
- Choose a solar installer. An installer can help you determine if your roof is suitable for solar panels. Start by researching qualified, insured installers online or ask for recommendations from people who have gone solar. Comparison-shop by asking multiple installers to come assess your roof. Make sure your installer is licensed and certified by a reputable organization like the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. When reviewing your contract, make sure you understand the terms and don’t hesitate to ask questions. e la luz del sol.
Note: Your solar installer will guide you through the process and some companies will do everything else for you! But, here’s what else needs to happen:
- Make sure your roof can support solar panels. A solar installer, roofing expert, or structural engineer can help you determine your roof’s solar suitability. It can help to know when your roof was installed or replaced, but if you don’t know and can’t ask the previous homeowners, your local government should have a record of when it issued the building permit. (It can often save you money if you install solar at the same time as a roof replacement.)
- Determine your home’s solar potential. Aside from your roof’s condition, your home’s solar rooftop potential depends on your geographic location, the position of your home in relation to the sun, how much shade you have, and the PV system you and your installer choose. These mapping services and tools can help you find out how much sunlight will reach your solar panels, along with your potential cost savings from going solar, but your installer can assess this for you too. Note that online tools estimate our solar potential using remote data sources, like satellite data. For a detailed evaluation of your solar potential, talk to an installer.
- Calculate your electricity needs. Reviewing your previous electricity bills can help you figure out how much power you need annually and seasonally. This is a good time to do a home energy audit to see whether you need to make any energy-saving home improvements so that you can get the most out of your system. Your installer can look at your bills to help you determine your current and long-term energy needs. Remember to consider any recent or future changes to your home that may affect your usage. For example, you may have just bought new energy-efficient appliances, or you could be planning to buy an electric vehicle that will need charging.
- Evaluate your finance options. You can buy or lease a PV system. Buyers can either purchase a system outright or obtain a solar loan. When you own a system, you receive solar tax credits and incentives, but you won’t if you lease. Some solar loans allow you to take advantage of the federal investment tax credit up front by allowing the loan provider or solar installer to take the credit in exchange for a reduced system cost or loan amount. Leasing a system can go one of two ways: You can pay a leasing company a fixed monthly payment for the use of your PV system, or you can enter a power purchase agreement, meaning you’d buy the electricity your system generates based on a set price per kilowatt-hour.
- Obtain permits and schedule inspections. Give your installer the information they need to obtain the permits and arrange the inspections that your local government requires. The PV system installation generally takes only a few days, but permits and inspections can take weeks to months. It depends on the local regulations in your area. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s SolarTRACE tool can give you an idea of how long it may take to complete the permitting, inspection, and interconnection process in your jurisdiction.
If your home is not suitable for rooftop solar, you can still get the benefits of clean energy by investing in a community or shared solar program. By going solar, you can play an active role in achieving the nation’s goal of a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. For more information, visit the Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar.
This blog post is part of the Energy Department’s Summer of Solar campaign, which lifts up stories of the diverse Americans who use solar energy and the communities that are making it easier to go solar.
Photo Credit: Residential solar project in Anchorage, Alaska, by Dennis Schroeder / National Renewable Energy Laboratory
