Google inks $280 million deal with SolarCity to finance residential PV installations

Google is investing $280 million to create a fund that will help SolarCity, San Mateo, Calif., finance more solar installations across the country. According to a posting on the company's Green Blog by Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations, it's the largest clean energy project investment to date and brings Google's total invested in the clean energy sector to more than $680 million.

Said Needham, "In SolarCity's innovative financing model, the company covers installation and maintenance of the system over the life of the lease. You can prepay, or pay nothing upfront after which you make monthly solar lease payments... We've also launched a partnership to offer SolarCity services to Googlers at a discount."