finances

Continuing a string of clean-energy investments, Google said today that it will invest $280 million to fund residential solar installations through partner SolarCity.

The investment is the largest Google has made in clean energy, bringing the total amount of money it has put into renewable energy to $680 million, Google's director of green business operations Rick Needham said in a company blog today.

Google will create a $280 million fund which SolarCity will use to finance the installation of residential solar photovoltaic arrays using a model that greatly lowers or eliminates the upfront cost of solar.

In addition to installing solar panels, SolarCity offers the option to lease the panels, rather than buy them. Instead SolarCity owns and maintains the panels and benefits from the state and federal tax credits for solar. Homeowners pay a monthly fee but their net monthly electricity bills go down.

SolarCity makes the solar financing model, which is being pursued by more companies, available in 10 states in the west and northeast. The San Francisco-based company has raised similar funds from banks and utilities to finance residential installations. … Read more

iBank is a full-featured financial management app that can help you track bank and credit card accounts, keep an eye on your investment portfolio, generate a variety of reports, and help with budgeting and planning.

iBank's interface has a very Mac-like feel: a toolbar sits over two panes, one for sources on the left and one for a transaction register on the right. Unlike the previous version of iBank, transaction editing happens right in the register view, with drop-down tools for categories, splits, and memos, and you can perform calculations when entering amounts. The right pane is also where … Read more

Home improvement chain Lowe's is investing in solar installer Sungevity, which will offer customized solar installation quotes in Lowe's stores.

Sungevity said today that this summer Lowe's will have in-store displays at some locations where customers can get a quote for installing solar panels based on satellite images. Sungevity uses the aerial photography to generate the bid without the need for a visit. It will also be able to provide Lowe's customers with a rendering of what panels would look like and projected monthly electric bills.

The company is one of a growing number of solar … Read more

SunRun said that it has secured $200 million from a bank to finance the installation of residential solar panels, a sign of confidence in a business model that avoids the upfront cost of solar.

The company said that a subsidiary of US Bancorp will provide the money, which will be the largest single fund for financing residential solar projects. US Bancorp has already made financing available to SunRun in separate deals.

Prices for solar panels themselves continue to fall but, with installation half the cost of an array, the upfront cost remains a barrier to residential solar. The financing model … Read more

Google made a few tweaks today to the way it presents financial information in its mobile search results.

Now, typing a stock symbol into the Google.com search bar in on your iPhone or Android smartphone (2.1 or above) returns useful data in a glance, including the stock's share price and an interactive graph you can click on to see fluctuations over a day up to a five-year span.

What's more, the results appear on four "cards," or screens, that you can swipe through to see additional news, and a market overview. Those of you … Read more

Google is the world's most valuable brand, according to a brand valuation company's list of the top 500 global brands.

Assigning a dollar amount to Google's brand, BrandFinance raised the search giant's value to $44.2 billion this year, up 23 percent from $36 billion last year.

Google often embarks on ventures that aren't necessarily commercial but have a positive impact on its brand rating (AAA+), which is the highest in the list, according to BrandFinance. One example includes Google's online services designed to help rescue efforts after the natural disasters in New Zealand … Read more

Personal finance technology has come a long way; there are now Web sites that will automatically download your transactions and alert you when you've gone over budget or are in danger of overdrawing your checking account. And then there are programs like Finance Explorer. Although the program does what it's designed to do--mostly--it just doesn't measure up in a world of increasingly sophisticated personal finance software.

Finance Explorer has a pretty bare-bones interface. Down the side there's a menu listing different accounts including bank, cash, credit card, investment, and loan. Users are supposed to be able … Read more

Is your college loan getting in the way of your next big ticket item? Whether that be a brand new house or a pair of shoes you've been eyeing all week, we all need a little help when it comes to our finances and planning for the future. There are a number of apps out there that can help you understand and manage your personal debt, but for a limited time only, DebtDasher is offering a 50% off discount to CNET users to get you on track for a debt free future.

With the tools in DebtDasher, you will … Read more

The French finance ministry revealed today that it has been the victim of a major and sustained cyberattack.

The attack, which has been ongoing since December, seems to be the work of hackers looking for documents related to the G20 political group, which brings together 20 major nations tasked with stablizing the global economy and which is being led by France this year, according to AFP News.

With over 150 computers in the ministry reported to have been compromised, the ministry has so far been forced to shut down 10,000 computers, said a report in Paris Match magazine (Google Translate English version). … Read more