As a way of celebrating the tenth anniversary of its landmark Smart-E loan program this year, the Connecticut Green Bank is set to make several updates to it in order to give a greater number of homeowners the opportunity to get power-saving technologies.
In a statement released on Friday, June 2nd, bank executives explained that this low-interest financing scheme will help more households go green through the installation of items like geothermal heat pumps and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with their own means of battery storage.
In order to do so, the bank increased the maximum amount per Smart-E loan from $40,000 to $50,000, even going so far as $75,000 in cases where lending partners are willing to give their approval.
Likewise, Smart-E lending partners have also been given the power to lend to homeowners with lower credit scores, as the mandatory minimum FICO score has been reduced from 640 to 580.
Mitigating the Impact of Adverse Factors
According to bank chief executive Bryan Garcia, the company has seen a significant increase in the average Smart-E loan amount over the past few years as it has been impacted by inflation as well as labor and supply chain issues.
In most cases, the money is used by homeowners for more comprehensive home improvement initiatives that come at a much higher cost than simple renovation.
Garcia explained that increasing the maximum loan amount will grant homeowners greater access to low-interest financing so that they can make such energy-saving improvements to their homes.
Since these were first offered back in 2013, the Connecticut Green Bank’s Smart-E loans have enabled over 7,000 families to avail of green energy solutions to improve their way of life. In total, the program itself has disbursed over $110 million in loans.
