Startup backed by Chamath Palihapitiya allows mortgage lenders and retailers sell rooftop solar gear to consumers; WSJ

A software startup backed by the venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya is launching a digital platform that allows companies such as mortgage lenders and home-improvement retailers to sell rooftop solar installations directly to consumers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Palihapitiya told the paper in an interview that the new law will accelerate deployment of rooftop solar and electric vehicles. “They’re just creating a tidal wave of incentives,” he said. Palmetto Solar LLC compares the new product to what the Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify Inc. does to help companies sell goods online. The news comes a day after Palihapitiya said he was winding down two Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. special-purpose acquisition corporations, or SPACs, after failing to find target companies in the required time. In regulatory filings, Palihapitiya, known as the “SPAC king” for the number of vehicles he has launched, said he is winding down Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. IV IPOD, +0.05%, which raised $461 million, and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. VI IPOF, +0.13%, which raised $1.15 billion.