Solar-energy installations are set to receive record loans this year through a U.S. municipal finance tool modeled after one that backed $17 billion of sewers and sidewalks in the past decade.
Simon Property Group Inc., the largest U.S. shopping mall owner, and Prologis Inc. the world’s biggest warehouse owner, are among borrowers funding projects from rooftop solar panels to energy-savings systems using so-called Pace financing. Pace bonds, sold by cities to investors, are repaid over decades by property owners through their real estate taxes.
