Finance
Trends in residential solar finance, equipment and maintenance
Solar informational site SolarReviews released its annual survey, sharing results gathered from a group mostly represented by residential solar installers, as well as commercial installers, equipment providers, and utility-scale installers. SolarReviews operates a Solar Calculator that enables prospective customers to have a snapshot of the benefits of adding solar to their roof based on customized data for their area.
Finance
With higher financing costs industry-wide, 54% of U.S. installers said customers were less likely to take a solar loan over the past year, while cash deals are up. About 49% of sales reported were cash deals, while 41% were loans. HELOC, PACE loans, power purchase agreements, and leases combined for 10% of reported solar sales.
The top financing providers used were Credithuman (15%), Mosaic (14%), Sunlight Financial (9%),Dividend (8%), and Clean Energy Credit Union (8%).
Typical loans for loaned systems varied widely depending on whether dealer fees were assigned. Average terms are seen below.
Heightened cost of finance has pressed the residential solar industry. About half (49%) of installers said demand went down in 2023 versus 2022.
In California, where rates paid for exporting solar production to the grid were slashed by about 80%, about 69% of installers reported lower sales in California in 2023 versus 2022. However, 68% of installers reported including battery energy storage with their solar installation, about double the national average. Installers report a median payback period of eight years for solar systems with a battery, while standalone solar systems have a longer median payback period of about 10 years.
California was not the only state to cut rates for solar exports, a process known as net metering. Georgia, Arizona, Kansas, Arkansas, and Wisconsin all noted an increase in installed systems not tied to a net metering agreement.
Top products
As for the top equipment brands in residential solar, SolarReviews surveyed installers based on five criteria of performance and quality, brand name reputation, product warranty, pricing, and product availability from distributors. Based on the five criteria, SolarReviews listed Qcells as the top performing panel brand.
Installers said the top five most-used panels were Qcells (53%), REC (41%), Canadian Solar (35%), Mission Solar (29%), and JinkoSolar (20%). About 19% of solar installers offer one panel brand, while the majority provide alternative options to meet the needs of their customers.
For inverters, the top five most-used were Enphase (62%), SolarEdge (43%), SMA (23%), Sol-Ark (21%), and Tesla (21%). Tesla made a notable leap up into the top five, gaining a larger market share than Fronius and Generac.
Enphase was also listed as the most commonly used battery energy storage provider, offered by 46% of installers. This was followed by Tesla (42%), SolarEdge (35%), FranklinWH (29%), and Fortress Power (18%). A sizeable market share was also held by SunPower, Generac, LG Energy Solution, and HomeGrid.
Maintenance
Given that solar is often a 25-year investment, post-installation services are a critical feature in a solar agreement. About 96% of installers have access to system monitoring, while 63% said they proactively check their customers’ installations at least once per quarter to ensure they are working.
The most common reasons for service, in order, were inverter hardware failures and replacement, inverter software and setup issues, battery software updates, communications and monitoring fixes, roof leaks, battery hardware failure or replacement, wiring issues, and broken or underperforming panels.
“Fortunately, when issues do occur, they are often covered by some type of warranty, leaving only 15% of cases where the customer is responsible for repair costs,” said SolarReviews.
Outlook
The residential solar industry looks to recover from a rocky 2023, where growth was slowed by high finance costs and unfavorable policy changes like the reduction of net metering rates.
“Some solar businesses are still reeling from the events of 2023. 22% of solar businesses say they have concerns that make them unsure whether they can stay in business in the coming six months,” said SolarReviews.
Despite this uncertainty, residential solar installers appear to have a good outlook for 2024. About 54% of surveyed installers said they expect to sell more solar in 2024, and an additional 23% said they think they will be able to maintain the same level of business next year.
Notably, surveyed installers listed pv magazine as the top trusted media platform for solar news and analysis, with 52% responding we are the preferred source. The marks the second year in a row as the most-trusted media source. We thank you for your continued readership.
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Retirement is often associated with greater freedom and the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of decades of work. But for many people, the transition from earning a regular pay cheque to relying on pensions and savings can feel less like a gentle glide and more like standing at the edge of a financial cliff-edge.
A YouGov survey of 6,224 UK adults found that 55% reported that they were concerned about running out of money in retirement and, among these worried respondents, 63% were under 50 years old.
However, the good news is that avoiding a financial retirement cliff-edge isn’t about having extraordinary wealth – it’s about making informed decisions before and throughout retirement.
We spoke to Susan Hope, retirement expert and business development director at Scottish Widows, who shared the following nine practical steps to help you build a retirement plan that can weather life’s uncertainties and give you greater confidence that your retirement years will be defined by peace of mind rather than financial stress.
1. Understand what state pension and credits you are entitled to
“Make sure the cornerstone of your financial retirement income is covered by the state and you’ve got everything you’re entitled to,” advises Hope. “If you go onto the HMRC app you can find out really quickly when your state pension age is and what you are due to get.
“Another important thing to look at on the app is a year-by-year breakdown of your national insurance contributions.”
Hope recommends going back through your working years to make sure that you’ve got credits for every period because if you weren’t working due to unemployment, illness, or were caring for someone, you may be entitled to national insurance credits.
They help ensure you qualify for certain benefits, most notably the state pension, during periods when you weren’t working, were earning too little to pay National Insurance, or were claiming specific benefits.
2. Locate any lost or missing pension pots
“I have a huge bee in my bonnet about the £31 billion of untraced pensions that we have in the UK,” says Hope. “Go back through your LinkedIn or your CV and make sure that none of that £31 billion is languishing somewhere, because that is your money to have.”
Once you know the name of your previous employer or your old pension provider, you can use the government’s free Pension Tracing Service to help find lost pension pots.
3. Look at the UK’s different retirement living standards
“I think it’s really useful to look at the UK’s retirement living standards, because that will give you an idea of how much you’re going to need in retirement, depending on what type of retirement you want to live,” recommends Hope.
Regions Financial Corp. has completed its acquisition of Montgomery-based investment banking firm The Frazer Lanier Company, expanding its municipal finance and corporate investment banking services.
The Birmingham-based financial company announced Thursday that the acquisition has officially closed. Founded in 1976, Frazer Lanier provides investment banking services specializing in municipal and corporate securities and has served corporations, cities, counties and local boards throughout its history.
According to Regions, the acquisition is intended to strengthen the bank’s capital markets capabilities while enhancing services for public sector and institutional clients across its multi-state footprint.
Frazer Lanier has built its business by serving as an underwriter or placement agent for tax-exempt and taxable bonds, helping public entities and organizations access financing.
“Two of our top priorities at Regions Bank are strategically expanding our services and investing in top-tier banking talent,” John Turner, chairman, president and CEO of Regions Financial Corp., said in a news release. “By welcoming experienced bankers from Frazer Lanier to the Regions family, we are connecting Regions’ clients with even greater capabilities while advancing our long-term strategy for growth.”
As part of the acquisition, Frazer Lanier will be integrated into Regions Bank’s Capital Markets division within the company’s Corporate Banking group.
Brian Willman, head of Corporate Banking for Regions, said the two organizations share a similar approach to serving clients.
“Frazer Lanier has built trust by staying close to clients and helping them navigate important decisions,” Willman said. “Together, we can expand that model by bringing more ideas, more capabilities and more connectivity to clients across our markets.”
Regions said the acquisition will expand its municipal finance and investment banking capabilities, strengthen its services for cities, counties and other public entities, and provide clients with broader access to financing and capital markets solutions.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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