Admirals Bank, a leading national provider of residential renewable energy financing, recently agreed to participate in the Solarize Durham initiative to offer interested homeowners innovative loan products to subsidize residential solar systems and installations.

Durham, NC February 03, 2014

On January 30, 2014 an information session was held at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durham to generate interest among homeowners within the Durham City limits who may have considered purchasing solar panels for their homes. Keynote speakers at this workshop included Patrick Murphy, a Relationship Manager and Solar Financing Expert of Admirals Bank, and representatives of NC WARN and Yes!Solar Solutions. Solarize Durham opens up a tremendous opportunity for homeowners in the area to take advantage of financing options and purchase home solar systems. Homeowners can easily enroll in the program by visiting http://solarize-durham.org and submitting basic contact information.

The state of North Carolina currently offers residents who purchase solar systems a tax credit up to 35% of the total purchase cost of the system. Additionally, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, homeowners are eligible for a federal personal income tax credit up to 30% of the purchase cost of their renewable energy system, without a maximum limit. Tax credits reserved by the government pooled with local North Carolina incentives permit homeowners to be reimbursed up to 65% of the total cost of a residential system. The tax credits offered in North Carolina are significantly higher compared to most states in the country, making this an ideal location for the Solarize project.

The loan programs designed by Admirals Bank allow homeowners to borrow up to $40,000 for residential solar systems. Homeowners can also apply any rebates, tax credits or incentive monies they may receive to the principal balance of their loan within the first 24 months of the fund date. If a homeowner chooses this option he or she may then re-amortize their loan at no cost to reduce his or her monthly payments. The loan programs provided by Admirals Bank are non-equity based, and homeowners may receive the funds in as little as 12 days, prior to the system being installed.

"North Carolina is an ideal market to host a Solarize initiative," said Ted Fawcett, Vice President and Director of Business Development of Renewable Energy Lending at Admirals Bank. "Our Bank's financing products, coupled with local and federal tax credits make home solar energy an attractive purchase."

Over the past 24 months, Admirals Bank has significantly contributed to the considerable successes of three additional Solarize projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts and North Carolina. In early 2012, Admirals Bank participated in the first Solarize initiative, Solarize Massachusetts, and helped homeowners in Hopkinton, Millbury and Sutton obtain the necessary funds to purchase solar systems. In May 2013 the Bank also signed on with Solarize Connecticut, which resulted in solar panel installations on over 100 homes in Durham, CT that produce over 1.017 million watts of clean energy. Following the success of Solarize CT, the Bank worked with the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute to launch the Solarize Asheville, NC program that signed up 368 interested homeowners.

Mr. Fawcett concluded, "Our Bank is committed to providing renewable energy lending on a national level. We regularly conduct market analyses to locate unique areas, like North Carolina, where homeowner incentives are high so we can further simplify the procurement of residential solar systems by offering our lending products."

For more information regarding Admirals Bank Renewable Energy Lending please call 800.615.8472 to speak with a Relationship Manager or email us at admiralsalternatives(at)admiralsbank(dot)com.

About Admirals Bank

Admirals Bank is a federally-chartered financial institution headquartered in Boston, MA with a Regional Banking Center in Providence, RI, and a Renewable Energy Lending Business Development Center in San Francisco, CA. Since 2012, Admirals Bank has focused its home improvement lending efforts in the residential solar and renewable energy industry, opening Admirals Alternatives, the Renewable Energy Lending division of Admirals Bank in April 2013. Admirals Bank also remains a leading national provider of the Title I Home Improvement Loan for a variety of other home improvements. Admirals also offers customers additional borrowing solutions such as Residential Mortgages. Additionally, Admirals Bank is an active acquirer of commercial real estate loans in the secondary market. Admirals introduced Bespoke Banking to the financial industry, which is individually tailored, highly customized, relationship banking, and also provides customers with classic banking options such as checking, savings and money market accounts, which can be conveniently opened and maintained online or via a mobile device. Admirals Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.