Solar service firm Tioga Energy gets funding
Tioga Energy on Wednesday said that it has received $10 million in initial funding to launch its solar power services business.
The company is one of a handful that is trying to bring project financing to organizations that want to avoid the large capital outlay associated with solar electricity.
Tioga Energy will work with partners to install panels on commercial and government buildings. Once installed, it will own the panels and handle the ongoing maintenance.
The idea behind these contracts, called purchased power agreements (PPAs), is that the customer pays for the energy generated by solar panels at a prearranged price, while the service provider owns and operates the panels.
Investors include NGEN Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Rockport Capital Fund.
Many industry experts contend that this financing model is critical to the adoption of solar energy because of the large up-front costs.
Other companies that offer solar electricity services include SunEdison and MMA Renewable Ventures.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
expemptions and subisidies. Everybody needs to understand this is
taking ordinary people's tax dollars and redistributing them to
energy companies and VCs. Really, do energy companies and
people like John Doerr need to be subsidized by people like you
and me? I think not! There has never been a succesful solar or wind
project without subsidy and tax breaks.