Investing In Solar Power – Crowdsourced

Mosaic’s Biggest Solar Project Ever Tops $1M Invested from 823 Individuals in 42 States

Solar Asset Class Beats Treasuries with 4.5% Est. Annual Returns

With the carbon dioxide level at its highest in human history and more than half the population worried about climate change (Gallup poll), many Americans are looking for an easy way to minimize their carbon footprint and expedite the transition to a clean energy economy. Mosaic, an online marketplace for high-quality solar projects, is catching on as an option for those who want to invest in solar and earn steady returns ranging from 4.5%-6.38% per year, varying by project.* For the estimated 75% of Americans who can’t go solar on their own roofs, Mosaic offers a way to help promote solar power generation.

Mosaic just released a “This is What People Power Looks Like” infographic inviting investors to put their “dot” on the map by investing in Mosaic’s newest and biggest solar project, a 487 kW installation on New Jersey’s famous Wildwoods boardwalk (view graphic here). More than 823 people from 42 states have invested in the Wildwoods project so far, creating enough electricity to power 50 American homes. The youngest Mosaic investor is 18 while the oldest is 86. The majority of Mosaic’s investors are from New York and California.

As San Francisco-based investor Rosana Francescato said, “Mosaic is enabling people like me to benefit from solar power while providing a good return on investment — an opportunity previously only available to major investors and banks. I invested in several projects, the process was easy and it only took a few minutes.”

In January, Mosaic launched its first return on investment solar projects to the public, selling out all three in less than 24 hours with over $300,000 invested. Since then, Mosaic has partnered with Standard & Poor’s, DuPont and Distributed Sun, among others, as part of the truSolar™ working group to standardize risk assessment and develop a score — similar to a credit rating — for each solar project.

Mosaic’s expected yield is competitive with stocks (with the S&P 500 averaging 4.5% from 2003-12) and corporate bonds (averaging 5.20% from 2003-12) and significantly greater than that of Treasuries (1.90%) and CDs (0.50%).