UOB offering financing plans for Singapore firms, home owners switching to solar power

(From left) Albert Lim, managing director, SolarGy; Karunia Tjuradi, head of sector solutions group, UOB; Rob Khoo, managing director, SolarPVExchange; Frederick Chin, head of group wholesale banking and markets, UOB; Frank Phuan, CEO and executive director, Sunseap Group; and Eric Tham, head of group commercial banking, UOB; at the launch of the U-Solar programme in Singapore. PHOTO: UOB

SINGAPORE - UOB has partnered home-grown solar companies SolarGy, SolarPVExchange and Sunseap Group for the Singapore portion of its regional U-Solar programme, which connects Asian businesses and individuals with the lender's solar company partners to help clients go green by switching to solar power.

Under the collaboration, businesses and home owners will be able to adopt solar energy by choosing from the installation, commissioning, operations and after-sales service packages for solar power systems provided by the three solar firms.

To help with the costs of installing and maintaining the system, UOB will offer business owners solar equipment financing, while home owners can opt for a zero per cent interest instalment plan of up to 36 months.

U-Solar, which sees UOB partnering different solar companies for each market, was launched in Malaysia in October 2019 and subsequently in Indonesia, before it was unveiled in Singapore on Tuesday (Nov 26).

Frederick Chin, UOB's head of group wholesale banking and markets, said: "Solar power is not only a clean and efficient energy source, but has also become a more economically viable option as the technology to harness solar energy matures.

"Despite this, many companies and consumers remain hesitant to adopt solar power, believing that it requires high upfront investment."

UOB shares were up six cents or 0.2 per cent to $26.18 as at 11.27am.

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