Dive Brief:

• Google is putting up $100 million and solar-maker SunPower is putting up $150 million for a fund that will finance a leasing operation for rooftop solar panels on U.S. homes.
• The companies' announcement did not say whether they plan to team with any home builders to offer leased solar as a new-home option.
• Google and SunPower claim that leasing panels from the fund will "typically" cost less than a utility bill.

Dive Insight:

Putting Google's brand behind the project gives it a good chance of succeeding. The company is also a large investor in solar energy for its own purposes, with more than $1 billion invested globally in solar generation. It's not clear yet if an installation will supply enough power to eliminate those monthly utility bills.