How One Fintech Entrepreneur Is Working to Make Solar Affordable for Every Household

Entrepreneur Hayes Barnard is working to help ordinary home­owners finance solar installations over a 25-year period through his fintech company, GoodLeap, which now finances a market-leading 28% of all home solar installations nationwide, according to Forbes. Only 4% of U.S. households have made the switch to solar, but with the help of tax credits for green home improvements allocated from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, GoodLeap hopes to expand its consumer base.

Through GoodLeap’s solar loan program, buyers can claim green tax credits while using their energy bill savings for monthly payments, making solar a viable and affordable option for a growing number of homeowners across the U.S.

There are a lot of parts to this model. Homeowners aren’t sitting alone in their dens buying solar systems. Instead, they’re dealing with 26,000 contractors and salesmen, some working through giants like Lowe’s and Home Depot, who are equipped with a GoodLeap app. That app allows sufficiently creditworthy homeowners to gain instant approval for a fixed-rate loan of up to $135,000 for 20 types of sustainable improvements, including solar panels, home batteries, new HVAC systems, energy-efficient windows and even water-saving artificial lawns.

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