US solar power developer SolarCity files for IPO

8 Oct 2012

SolarCity, the US developer of solar power installations, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to float on the stock exchange. The California company filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on Friday and proposes to raise up to US$201.3m.

SolarCity plans to list its common stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘SCTY’.

SolarCity, of which Tesla and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk is also chairman, was founded in 2006 by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive.

According to the filing, Musk owns almost a third of SolarCity’s shares. Musk is also in the news today as his commercial aerospace company SpaceX has launched its Dragon spacecraft into space for a cargo mission to the International Space Station as part of a commercial agreement with NASA.

As for SolarCity, the company develops rooftop solar-power systems for homes, government agencies and businesses – think Wal-Mart and Intel. According to the company it has customers in 14 US states. SolarCity also offers a leasing option for homeowners so they can pay monthly fees for their solar installation, for example.

In its filing SolarCity said it has raised US$1.57bn through 23 investment funds and related financing facilities forged with banks and other companies such as Credit Suisse, Google, PG&E Corporation and U.S. Bancorp.

As part of its strategy the company also stated that it plans to become the “the largest provider of clean distributed energy in the world”.

Solar rooftop installation image via Shutterstock

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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