Save your Business’s Cash and Go Solar with a Loan
Suppose your business had an extra $750,000 lying around, what would you do with it? Perhaps make some additional hires or increase employee benefits. Or maybe upgrade some old equipment or invest in expansion or build a rainy day fund to protect against an economic downturn. For most business owners, purchasing a new solar system probably does not top the list and that’s ok. While solar is a phenomenal investment for businesses, accruing federal tax benefits, state and local incentives, and utility bill savings, paying for a system outright with cash is not the best use of excess cash on the balance sheet when long-term, low-cost loan financing is available.
The most obvious benefit of financing a solar system versus paying cash is that with financing, your system can be cash flow positive from day 1. Paying cash, it could take 5, 10 or even more years to earn back the upfront cost, as the illustration below indicates. In this scenario, a business owner that pays cash would have to wait 7 years to be cash flow positive on their $750K system. If they financed the system, they are cash flow positive day 1. Furthermore, it takes 12 years for the system paid for in cash to generate more savings than the financed system.
Who wants to wait that long? Particularly in sectors like real estate, when that business owner may not even plan to own the property that long.
Additionally, there is an opportunity cost to using your cash for solar instead of making other investments. While solar will save you money and boost your bottom line, it will not help your business grow (at least not directly, though solar will likely attract some new, sustainability minded customers). So why not finance your solar system and use your cash for things like labor and capital expenditures, growing your top line while also reducing expenses. With a recession likely coming soon, it also wouldn’t hurt to keep some liquidity in your business. The same logic applies to buying a new building or making a large capital investment. There is a reason businesses don’t go around paying cash to buy property.
It’s understandable that many business owners are wary of taking on additional debt. However, solar debt is not your typical debt. A solar system provides a near-certain financial return that offsets the debt almost immediately. How often can you take on debt to acquire something that will provide an almost guaranteed financial return for your business? Please don’t say bitcoin miners. While nothing in life is guaranteed, the return on your solar system is about as close as you can get.
Suppose your utility offered you a choice: pay us $100 a month, increasing 3% a year for perpetuity or pay $95 a month for the next 20 years and then never pay us again. You would be foolish not to take the second option, which is an illustration of how the economics work when you finance a solar system with a long-term, fixed-rate loan. Oh, and in the second option you are going to get a tax deduction too.
So now that your business is ready to finance a solar system with a low-cost, long-term, fixed-rate loan, let Sunstone Credit make the process easy for you. Sunstone offers 100% financing with no personal guarantees or property liens. Our collateral is the system itself meaning that by financing with us, not only can you preserve cash, but you can also preserve your existing lines of credit. Furthermore, we have a concierge, “Green Glove” service to coordinate the installation. Sunstone’s aim is to get your business to save money and reap the other benefits of solar from day one with as minimal effort on your part as possible. Learn more about this service here.
Our solutions work for property owners, tenants and landlords and are available in all 50 states and DC. The first step in our process is to provide you with a preliminary analysis of how much money your business can save with solar — it’s completely free with no obligation to move forward. Fill out this form and our team will be in touch.
Go solar and save money while putting your cash to work elsewhere, it wins all the way around!
