The city of San Francisco recently started GreenFinanceSF, a financing program that helps to pay for water savings, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects that you might not have been able to afford.  The repayment obligation is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and is paid back through property taxes over the life of the financing. The maximum payback is 20 years. this program applies to residential and commercial property owners.

Eligible projects include home energy audits, upgrading heating systems, upgrading water heaters, installing solar hot water, installing solar electric panels, and conserving hot water. The city wants people to get home energy audits before doing any work, so you see all the options. The program has an online application and application processing fee of $300. FAQ 800-803-6930 is their phone number.

If you sell the property before everything is paid back, whoever buys the property will make the rest of payments over time through their property tax bill.

This program was funded in part Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The City and County of San Francisco received direct funding through the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program that was used to establish the framework of GreenFinanceSF.