Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF)

The Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) is aiming to expand its triple bottom line impacts in underserved communities throughout Central Florida and to increase our overall statewide lending activity to $10 million by 2017 in order to achieve organizational self-sufficiency. In the Orlando region, we are striving to deploy a minimum of $3 million in clean energy financing over the next 3 years to assist approximately 300 low and moderate income households and to enable the organization to sustain the new Central Florida office. Our triple bottom line impacts are measured by the number of low and moderate income homeowners that we assist, including reduced operating costs, much-needed home improvements, increased market value and home equity, enhanced comfort and livability, and reduced carbon footprint. SELF also has more than 70 approved contractors in our network and we track the number of local green jobs created through our programs. SELF is one of a kind in Florida and one of only a few green CDFIs in America that are focusing on clean energy solutions for low and moderate income property owners. We are working to rebuild and empower underserved neighborhoods with more than 70% of our lending activity occurring in low and moderate income communities. SELF has also developed special programs to assist women in distress and veteran homeowners. In the Orlando region, SELF is also working in partnership with the City of Orlando and the Orlando Utility Commission to provide educational materials and energy expertise through an energy auditing process and follow-up consultations. These community outreach efforts and customized programs help inform property owners about cost-effective clean energy technologies and available financing solutions from SELF. Our ""Rebuilding and Empowering Underserved Communities"" program helps low and moderate income homeowners identify and finance wise home energy improvements. Our beneficiaries have reduced their energy use by an average of 23% per household and then redirect their energy dollars back into home improvements, clean energy alternatives, and enhanced quality of life. SELF is kick-starting the clean energy economy from the bottom-up, one home at a time, through customized and personalized service. With 4 years of experience with home energy retrofits in underserved communities, SELF is uniquely qualified to expand these services throughout the Central Florida region and provide more triple bottom line impacts in the Sunshine State.

SELF’s primary strategic goal for the next 5 years is to ensure long term sustainability by increasing our lending activity to benefit more people in Florida and beyond. In order to fulfill ourlending goals, SELF will: (1) expand operations into new geographic areas, and (2) provide new products and services (3) increase loan volume.
The SELF organization is actively scaling and diversifying statewide through an expanding contractor network, robust partnerships and seed grants, new financial technologies, and innovation.
Currently, approximately 70% of all SELF-financed projects originate from approved contractors who often need additional financing options for low-wealth and working class clients, including individuals with less than stellar credit. In light of this core fact, and new markets and seed grants in the Tampa Bay region, SELF has hired a new Regional Manager to more than double the statewide contractor network from to 500 companies by 2021. By substantially expanding SELF’s approved contractor network throughout the Sunshine State, with an emphasis on the Tampa Bay region, SELF can strategically scale products and services and overall lending activities to both priority regions and outlying target markets. This new position will also assist with contractor recruitment for new lending products, namely longer-term solar PV loans, discussed in greater detail below.
In fiscal year 2018, SELF also expanded into the Tampa Bay region, which has been a longstanding strategic goal and one of the primary reasons for the substantial increase in forecasted lending activities during the three-year term of the award. SELF finalized new seed grants from Hillsborough County (Tampa) and the City of St. Petersburg (Pinellas County), totaling $600,000 (from 2018-2021), which provides SELF with increased organizational capacity, two new satellite offices, and significant marketing and community outreach to more than 3 million people in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater MSA. Furthermore, there is a tremendous need for sustainable building practices in this region, particularly in underserved communities. The Urban Land Institute’s (ULI), April 2018, Realizing Resilience Report, concluded that “the Tampa Bay region is known as one of the most vulnerable in world to wind damage, coastal flooding from storm surge, and rising sea levels”, and “the adverse effects from environmental threats often impact low income communities the hardest”. SELF’s products and services help LMI homeowners adapt to climate change through wind resilience and storm protection, while also mitigating climate change through energy efficiency and clean energy alternatives. SELF also fosters social justice, community revitalization and neighborhood preservation, while fostering entrepreneurialism, green jobs, and on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs.

SELF has a team of 15 that includes an Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, Operations Manager, Treasure Coast Regional Director, Central Florida Regional Director, Marketing Director, Reporting Officer, Accountant, and full underwriting team. We are headquartered in St. Lucie County and have the staff capabilities to interconnect with and serve new satellite locations. As of January 2015, SELF also has a new full time manager and a new office location in Orlando. SELF also has 4 years of experience working on the front-lines helping underserved communities identify and finance home energy retrofits. To date, we have completed nearly 1,000 energy assessments and closed more than 325 home energy retrofit loans totaling $2.7 million. SELF has raised more than $6 million in grants and loan capital to date, and we have developed robust new partnerships with local governments, utilities, contractors, trade organizations, faith-based organizations, banks, universities, job-training programs, and other non-profit organizations. SELF's Business Plan identified 3 target regions in Florida, including the Treasure Coast, Space Coast, and Tampa Bay regions, and we work closely with local governments in these regions to identify low and moderate income communities with the greatest need and then customize strategies for community outreach and program development. SELF has also garnered national support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), Banks, the Federal Reserve, faith-based organizations, impact investors, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, PACEnow.org, and other non-profits and foundations. SELF was also recently approved as a field partner with Kiva.org and is now raising funds through their worldwide crowd funding network. Finally, SELF is finalizing multi-million dollar loan agreements with Renewable Funding, Mission Markets, and the Calvert Foundation. SELF has now assembled all of the partners, loan capital, and initial resources needed to create and operate the new Central Florida office. However, these resources are the bare minimum needed to open the new satellite office in Orlando but will not allow us to fully capture the market or continue to expand our triple bottom line impacts in subsequent years. SELF would benefit greatly from additional resources to expedite our scaling efforts in year one, including an additional loan officer and marketing collateral, and we will need additional financial support in the coming 2 years as we exhaust the City's initial support and strive to reach organizational self-sufficiency.

SELF has accomplished a lot since its inception back in 2010, successfully deploying the original U.S. Department of Energy grant, achieving 501(c)(3) status and certification from the U.S Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), raising more than $20 million in grants and loan capital, expanded to 90 cities and counties in Florida and a handful of projects in AL, GA, and SC. SELF has been described by our peers in the CDFI industry as a ""trailblazer"", and our aforementioned success serves as the critical foundation needed for the organization to grow and attain the necessary economies of scale needed to achieve organizational self-sufficiency. SELF has financed over 1,500 projects totaling $15million with default rates below 2% and 72% of the
lending activity in Low- and Moderate-Income (LMI) communities, 50% for seniors, and 40% for women.
SELF’s clients have reduced average household energy consumption by 25% (i.e., carbon footprint) with energy
efficiency upgrades, and many clients have achieved netzero homes through rooftop solar PV systems. Homeowners are making much-needed home improvements that enhance comfort, health and quality of life, increase equity, safeguard against storms and extreme weather events, and reduce operating costs (energy and property insurance).