Mosaic: Company Provides Loans For Small Solar Projects

Mosaic is a new company that functions like a virtual renewable energy bank, soliciting investments for solar projects and making loans to be paid back, typically, over about 10 years. Mosaic collects a fee on every loan.

It is similar to the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, a Web site that matches creative ventures with financial supporters. In the case of Mosaic, with a minimum of $25, investors can earn a return. Investors say they like knowing where their money is going, in contrast to buying into a mutual fund.

Based in Oakland, California, Mosaic has a staff of 22.  Mosaic makes loans only to projects that already have deals to sell the electricity they will produce; it then raises money from investors, who receive a return of roughly 4 to 6 percent as a loan is paid back.  The company takes a 1 percent fee on each investment and a small-percentage origination fee on each loan, which varies from project to project.

The company’s projects have been modest so far: among others, a solar array atop a youth employment center in Oakland as well as the convention center in Wildwood, N.J., and apartments at the University of Florida in Gainesville. For its biggest project, it plans to help finance the installation of over 55,000 solar panels on more than 500 military homes at Fort Dix, N.J.  (NYT, 9/2/2013)