Is a Solar + Battery Loan Secured? Four Questions for Credit Teams
In a solar + battery loan, the equipment, warranty and guarantee all sit with someone else, and repayment depends on bill savings the lender never sees. Four questions on claim, warranty, guarantee and insurance close the gap.
Imagine approving a loan where the asset, the warranty and the guarantee all sit with someone else, and the repayment depends on savings you can't see. That's a solar + battery loan.
Everyone holds a piece. The lender holds the risk.
Who holds what
- Equipment: sits on the borrower's roof.
- Warranty: is with the battery maker.
- Guarantee: the performance guarantee, if there is one, is with the installer.
- Cashflow: repayment comes from electricity bill savings the lender never sees.
Four questions before the next file is approved
- Claim on the asset: does the lender have a legal claim on the equipment, and can it actually take it back?
- Warranty: does it still hold if the owner changes?
- Guarantee: is there an installer guarantee, and what exactly does it cover?
- Insurance: is the equipment insured against fire and damage?
Machinery lenders already ask this
Lenders who finance machinery already ask all four of these questions. For batteries, the answers are rarely written down. That's the gap. Credit and risk teams can check which of the four their loan approval covers today, and make sure the answers are documented in the file rather than assumed. These are questions for discussion, not legal advice.
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