Green financier and pioneer of Australia’s “buy now pay later” rooftop solar market, Brighte, has been tapped by the ACT government to administer the first phase of its $150 million Sustainable Household Scheme, while also flagging a move into the electric vehicle financing space.
The policy, announced as part of the ACT’s 2020-21 Budget in January, will provide zero-interest loans of between $2,000 and $15,000 for energy efficiency home upgrades, ranging from solar and battery storage, to electric vehicles and chargers, and efficient electric appliances.
The scheme, which will be open to new applications for five years, will require successful applicants to repay the zero-interest loans over a period of 10 years.
For the loans through the ACT scheme, applicants must satisfy standard credit criteria to be eligible and must begin repaying the loans once the product/system has been installed or purchased, or the installer has sent the invoice to the loans provider.
Each participant in the scheme can borrow a total of up to $15,000 over the life of the scheme, but no more, even if a previous loan has been repaid. Participants can install one product or a bundle of products from the list of eligible items, which you can learn about here.
Brighte, outside of its participation in the ACT scheme, currently offers a number of financial products to help households buy rooftop PV and undertake energy efficiency measures and other home improvements, with the zero or low-interest loans designed to enable households to use savings on electricity costs to pay off the loan.
The company said late last year that it had provided finance for more than 52,000 rooftop solar installations in Australia (as at the end of 2020) and was pursuing new opportunities in the market, including the establishment of an integrated rooftop solar and electricity retailing solution.
This week, the company announced it was also moving into the electric vehicle financing space for the first time, using its participation in the ACT scheme as a foundation to offer loans, first in the Capital, and then nationally over the coming year.
For more on this story, please read the original story at our sister-site, One Step Off The Grid .
