Patagonia has announced a new partnership with Kina'ole Capital Partners to create a $35 million tax equity fund that will bring rooftop solar power to 1,500 households in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The fund uses state and federal tax credits to direct Patagonia's tax dollars for the residential development of solar energy systems. Patagonia's investment comes through its $20 Million & Change fund, launched in 2013 to help innovative start-up companies in the development of environmentally-friendly solutions. In a similar endeavor, Patagonia partnered with Kina'ole to purchase 1,000 rooftop solar systems in Hawaii, in 2014. The new transaction brings together five entities including Patagonia as the tax equity investor, Kina'ole as the fund manager, New Resource Bank and Beneficial State Bank as lenders, and Sungevity as the project developer. The homeowners pay no upfront costs for the solar power systems but sign power purchase agreements to buy solar energy for less than their utility's rates. Any surplus energy produced by the panels is sold back to the utility, while Sungevity manages the installations and the contracts.

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