The Inflation Reduction Act has unlocked a new era of clean energy. This guide explores how provisions it includes, like Direct Pay, can help democratize clean energy projects like community and residential solar by making it financially viable for low-to-moderate income households and communities. Financing from Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and other mission-driven lenders are especially vital for marginalized communities otherwise underserved by the banking sector. Rochdale Capital, a minority-led community development loan fund, and National Bankers Association, the only trade organization exclusively for minority banks, were motivated to help mission-driven lenders participate in climate finance and created this guide. Together with WeSolar—the first Black woman to found a solar developer firm—they provide this substantive blueprint for action for financing community-centered solar projects.

The Kresge Foundation supported this report with a grant from the Social Investment Practice.