Google Creates $280 Million Fund to Finance Solar Energy

Deal with Silicon Valley's SolarCity is search giant's largest clean tech investment.

Google is making its largest investment yet in clean energy, setting up a $280 million fund to finance home solar rooftop installations.

The search giant announced today it was teaming up with the Silicon Valley’s SolarCity—a company chaired by Paypal co-founder and Tesla Motors executive Elon Musk—in an effort to break down the biggest barrier to solar energy adoption: the cost.

"It's a great way to support installations going into more homes," said Google spokesperson Parag Chokshi.

The $280 million fund is the largest fund ever created for residential solar in the United States, according to SolarCity, which has raised a total of $1.28 billion in financing capacity during its five-year history.

Google over the past several years has invested in large, utility-scale

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