Cate Blanchett

Despite the recession, Sungevity, a  Californian solar installer is growing rapidly. It has announced that it has raised $15 million to allow the company to expand operations and start targeting states n the US east coast.

The original primary investor in the company was Australian actor, Cate Blanchett, and the company’s President is the Australian activist, Danny Kennedy – formerly Campaign Manager of Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

The basic idea of the company is to make the entire process of going solar as easy as buying a car. You simply enter your address on the company’s web site and the software uses Google maps to analyzes your roof and come up with the appropriate solar array. The software manages the necessary permits, completes the forms and sends them to you for signature. A pre-packaged solar array is sent to your home and an installation crew is dispatched.

US Bank funds the installation so that there is no money down. Monthly payments can be offset by the savings on the electricity bill. In return, US Bank gets a 30 percent federal investment tax credit on the installations.