SolarCity organizes loan program for energy-efficiency upgrades

Clean energy technology and integration company SolarCity has come up with another innovative way to help U.S.  homeowners more seriously consider upgrades that could help make their house more energy-efficient.

This time, it is in the form of a home energy loan program that SolarCity has arranged with Boston-based Admirals Bank.

The idea behind the program is to help reduce the upfront cost of installing technologies such as renewable energy systems or systems that improve the house's efficiency. SolarCity is banking on the idea that many homeowners would like to make their home more energy-efficient, but might not have the money to get things started. It is a strategy that has worked well previously for SolarCity's solar technology installation business.

SolarCity energy-efficiency audits and assessments focus on ways to improve performance across nine areas including air infiltration, insulation, heating and cooling systems, and ducts, among other things.

The new loans being announced this week will come in the form of a one-year "Save Now, Pay Later" option; or a three-year or 10-year "Pay As You Go" option.

SolarCity started offering energy-efficiency services since 2010 and has been involved with more than 5,000 projects (either completed or under way). Historically, the focus of the efficiency initiatives has been Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas. Now, however, SolarCity is reaching out to the east coast with this services, focusing on Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C.