Georgia’s BRIGHT program offers solar leases with no upfront costs, benefiting low-income households across the state.

Georgia has launched its Building Renewables & Investing for Green, Healthy, and Thriving Communities (BRIGHT) program, a program run by the Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit institution supported by a $1 million grant from the Arthur M. Blank foundation. The program offers solar leases for no upfront cost, even for customers with credit scores too low for traditional solar financing. The system is offered at 65% of the original price at year seven and offers about 20% savings per month on electricity bills, or about $10,000 to $15,000. The pilot project signed up 200 households that make less than $100,000 per year across Georgia in September. Funding for low-income solar is increasing in the US, boosted by the $7 billion Solar for All program, which funds rooftop solar projects in lower income communities and provides solar workforce development.