http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar/banks%e2%80%99-refusal-to-finance-solar-leaves-it-only-for-the-%e2%80%98well-off%e2%80%99.html

The refusal of high-street banks to finance solar rooftop arrays is denying the public the full benefits of government subsidies for the power source, according to industry figures.

Banks’ resistance to finance solar investments has exacerbated complaints that the solar subsidies can only be capitalised by the ‘well off’.
Director of renewable energy companies EOS Energy and Alumet Renewable, Lee Summers, has highlighted that homeowners are unable to install solar panels unless they can pay high upfront costs.
‘[Homeowners] are unable to benefit from the eight to ten per cent that the feed-in tariff [FIT] guarantees to domestic generators because they don’t have the £12,000 or £15,000 they need to install the photovoltaic panels in the first place,’ said Summers.
‘Banks do not regard the government’s 25 year index-linked, commitment as collateral for a loan. The FITs are paid for by levies on every energy bill and so every home owner should have the opportunity to access the FIT.’
Under the FIT scheme, individuals or developers who generate power from solar or anaerobic digestion receive payments from their energy supplier based on how much energy they generate to off-set installation costs.
The UK government announced proposals last month that call for solar developments over 250kW to have their FIT payments reduced by 72 per cent to focus the subsidies on the domestic market.
In the past year since the FIT was introduced, a striking 28,032 new photovoltaic arrays have been installed on residential properties in the UK according to estimates, generating a combined 77MW of power.
‘It would not be difficult for government to instruct the state-subsidised banks to recognise its own FIT scheme as suitable collateral,’ said Summers.