Standard Bank ups green funding to empower homeowners to switch to solar

Standard Bank personal and private banking has announced a big increase in its green solution funding. The bank has led a concerted effort to disburse funds to individuals in SA for the installation of solar solutions or the purchasing of “green-aligned” homes. 

By the end of the third quarter of 2023, the bank’s cumulative value of its consumer green lending book had grown by more than 26% and was approaching R3bn. At the time, Standard Bank declared it was confident it would reach its target of providing over R1.2bn in new financing during the 2023 year for these initiatives. 

Through various initiatives, including the bank’s LookSee home efficiency platform, the bank has installed over 7,000 solar panels on homes, which is providing over 8,400 tonnes of CO₂ offset. Through LookSee, the bank has assisted customers to install over R164m worth of home solar systems, which is a 350% growth year on year. 

There has also been a dramatic increase in the financing of solar systems through home loan re-advances. These efforts have resulted in significant savings for South African homeowners, with an estimated annual savings in electricity costs of almost R19m being realised through the home efficiency solutions that have been provided to customers.

“We are incredibly proud to be leading the charge on not only finding new, cost-effective sustainable solutions for our clients energy needs, but to be helping in easing the demand on the national grid and promoting energy efficiency among consumers,” says Andrew van der Hoven, head of digital, e-commerce and housing platforms at Standard Bank. 

In 2023, the bank was the first to announce its participation in the government-supported Energy Bounce Back Loan Guarantee Scheme designed to help small businesses and consumers access financing for energy solutions.

The bank’s LookSee Solar Loan, the first of its kind, features personalised interest rates capped at a maximum of prime plus 2.5% on loans ranging from R3,000 to R300,000. Existing and aspiring clients can choose a repayment term between one and five years to suit their monthly budget with no penalties on early settlement.

The platform also launched the first, free-to-use Solar Score tool for residential properties in SA. This innovation analyses a three-dimensional grid of a home against various factors to assess the suitability of a solar installation on that particular property. This then provides homeowners with essential insights such as the optimal roof space for solar panels, average days of sunlight, estimated generation ability and potential savings on electricity costs from the grid over a period of one to 25 years. 

This remarkable work also saw the platform win the silver award at the global Qorus-Accenture Banking Innovation Awards in the Social, Sustainable and Responsible Banking category, making it the only organisation in Africa to get into the top nine shortlist. 

“We will continue to drive this work as part of our commitment to play our part in helping to solve the daily challenges our clients face. We believe renewable energy solutions, such as solar, have the power to improve our customer’s quality of life by providing power security and bringing down electricity bills; while also easing the strain on SA’s power grid and making a real contribution to the fight against climate change,” says Van der Hoven.

This article was sponsored by Standard Bank.