The City of Lancaster announced plans for Solar Lancaster, a comprehensive public/private partnership involving SolarCity that will provide affordable solar options to the city's businesses, non-profits and homeowners.

LANCASTER, Calif., July 12, 2010—The City of Lancaster and SolarCity® today announced plans for Solar Lancaster, one of the most expansive solar community programs ever undertaken. The program, one of the nation's first combined public/private solar partnerships, has been created to offer all Antelope Valley residents, businesses and non-profit organizations more affordable ways to adopt solar power. The program, which will be considered at tomorrow's Lancaster City Council meeting, will provide a blueprint for other cities across the nation that want to use cleaner power, create green jobs and reduce dependence on polluting power sources.

Solar Lancaster can allow area homeowners to pay less for solar power than they previously paid for electricity via SolarLease®, SolarCity's award-winning residential financing option. Businesses and non-profits will also have the option to install solar with no upfront cost, and pay only for the solar electricity their solar arrays produce each month through a power purchase agreement. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris will sign on as the first residential customer of the program. Sierra Toyota of Lancaster will be the first business to install solar as part of the program, with a 632-kilowatt installation at its new dealership.

"I'm delighted we will be offering a program which will allow Antelope Valley residents, businesses and non-profit organizations to go solar at an extremely affordable price," said Mayor Parris. "As a City, we're dedicated to offering ways to help our community go green. We will all benefit from this program, which will help reduce our carbon footprint while creating a number of new jobs in our community."

SolarCity has opened a local office in the Lancaster Business Park to facilitate the operation of the Solar Lancaster program and create local jobs, and SolarCity plans to help create a local solar training program in partnership with the University of Antelope Valley. Lancaster is also working with SolarCity to install 2.5 megawatts of new solar capacity across six different City sites including City Hall, Clear Channel Stadium and the Lancaster Performing Arts Center

"The City of Lancaster is demonstrating that individual communities can make a difference with programs that make clean power more affordable than other power sources," said Jim Cahill, SolarCity's regional director in Southern California. "Solar Lancaster will create a landmark opportunity for Antelope Valley residents, businesses, schools and other non-profits to install renewable power at an affordable price."

"Through programs like Solar Lancaster, we are taking full advantage of our renewable natural resources to produce clean energy while also creating sustainable, well-paid jobs in a growing industry for our local residents," said Parris. "This truly is the future of the Antelope Valley."

To learn more about the program or to obtain a quote on solar power installation, businesses and homeowners can visit www.solarlancaster.org or call 888-765-2489.

About the City of Lancaster
The City of Lancaster is a thriving community of nearly 146,000 in northern Los Angeles County. Clean air, attainable housing, wide open spaces, and a close-knit community make Lancaster an ideal place for families. A low cost of doing business, endless potential for growth, and a strong commitment to business from local leaders has earned Lancaster the Eddy Award for "Most Business-Friendly City" in Los Angeles County from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. In addition, Lancaster boasts more than 300 days of sunshine per year, making it the ideal place to pioneer new solar energy technologies. No matter how you look at it, it's positively clear that Lancaster is the perfect place to live, work and play.

About SolarCity
SolarCity—a national leader in solar power system design, financing, installation, monitoring and related services—was founded with the mission to help millions of homeowners and businesses adopt solar power, protect themselves from rising electricity costs and protect their environment from polluting power sources. The company's SolarLease®, PurePower™ and Commercial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) options can make it possible for homeowners and businesses to switch to clean, solar power for less money than they currently pay for electricity. SolarCity currently serves more than 1,000 communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at www.solarcity.com.

Media Contacts:
Jonathan Bass
SolarCity
650-963-5156
jbass@solarcity.com

Zan Dubin Scott
ZDS Communications
310-392-1130
zan@zdscommunications.com

Joseph Cabral
City of Lancaster
661-723-6053
jcabral@cityoflancasterca.org