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I don't love the idea of my money going to fund the companies destroying the world, but most mutual funds seems to do that, and the banks, who knows what they do?
So I've started #investing a bit of my money in solar panel infrastructure trough #Trine. They show me exactly where my money goes, and to what: Installing rooftop solar!
I'm supposed to get my money back w/interest, but there's ofc a risk. But the risk from investing in world destroyers is worse, IMO.
Børge
If you sign up to Trine via the link above both of us gets 25 EUR to invest with. If you don't want that, here's a regular link: https://trine.com
Børge
@ErgonWolf You lend money to a company that needs the money to pay for the upfront costs of installing solar panels, then they pay you back, with interest, over the next years, presumably using some of the money they save on electricity.
ErgonWolf
@forteller I have to ask... how do you get you money back by investing in rooftop solar?
Rooftop solar is often sold to the homeowner as a way for them to come out from under utility costs, so they pay off their rooftop solar installations through the kickbacks from them contributing energy to the grid.
How do you... as an investor... get any money out of this relationship?
Børge
@ErgonWolf I'm sorry, what? All the governments of all the countries Trine operates in covers all the upfront costs of installing rooftop solar? That sounds way too good to be true, can you show me some sources for this?
Also, please don't shout, I can hear you quite fine.
ErgonWolf
@forteller BUT THE GOVERNMENT IS COVERING THE UPFRONT INSTALL
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The project I lent money to has now been fully funded, and I've gotten this repayment schedule.
There are two more projects that you can support, if you want to.
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@jonstodle Cool! Let me know how things works out for you :D
Jon G Stødle
@forteller Just signed up, awaiting approval
John Von Rader
@forteller What’s the interest rate you’re earning?
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@johnnyvonrotten According to the loan offer it's supposed to be 4.5-6 % pa: https://trine.com/loan/ecoligo-20
According to the repayments schedule I'm supposed to get 1269.86 EUR back on my 1000 EUR investment by december 10th 2028
Børge
@npdoty Hey. Trine now has a loan available in USD, which I guess would mean that you can invest in that from the US? I don't know, but I'd love if you gave it a shot and tell me how it goes!
Nick Doty
@forteller this sounds great! Unfortunately, I can't invest as I'm in the US and Trine only offers that service in EU/EEA countries. I'll stay on the lookout for options in the US.
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Wow, I've already gotten my first repayment from my investment! As you can see above I was supposed to only get that in May, then the second in August, but now I've gotten my first €15 (and can withdraw it immediately), and the repayment schedule has been bumped up so that my second repayment will come already in June!
This seems very promising for the whole investment to actually be monetarily profitable. Here's hoping!
Invest in building solar panels https://trine.com/invite/270283
Børge
@npdoty Ugh, that's too bad! Thanks for checking!
Nick Doty
@forteller hmm... I still immediately get this message:
> Heads up! We're thrilled you're interested, but at the moment, we're only able to welcome investors from the European Economic Area (EEA), which covers the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member countries.
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Hey, 2 more people signed up and invested in solar panels trough my link to Trine after this, getting me up to 3 referrals. That means that my chart over the impact I've had on reducing co2 emissions now looks like this. That's awesome! Thanks, all!
If you want to join we both get €25 extra to invest with trough this link, and I can keep seeing how posting in the fediverse makes a change :) https://trine.com/invite/270283
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Again I've gotten a repayment on my solar loan before time. The next one was supposed to come in June, but I got it now. €15 that I can withdraw now, or reinvest in another loan.
This seems very promising for the promise of this to be a way to help the climate while also being a profitable investment.
Together with the 3 others that have signed up via me, we have avoided almost 70 tons of co2! Use my link if you want €25 to start your own climate friendly investment https://trine.com/invite/299065
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Now I learned that you can enable automatic withdrawals of the money you get repaid, if you want to make sure you get your profits as soon as possible.
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@hallvors Kult! 😁
hallvors
@forteller interessant, da har jeg blitt med også :)
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@perfectlynormal Yey! Så gøy! Det blir spennende å se grafen stige etterhvert! 🌞
Perfectly Unstable
@forteller spennende.. gjør ett lite forsøk jeg også
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Hurray! Two more people have signed up trough my link, and I've reinvested all the money I got from the repayment + the referrals.
And so now we have passed 70 tons of co2 avoided! Up about 5 tons from my previous post.
I hope everyone remembers that as with any investments there's also risks here. But the potential rewards are so much greater than just money. We need a world where those who want to do good can also access capital. So we need to invest in that.
Volker Stolz
@forteller Interesting...I just don't have that much faith in the IT (being in IT myself)...waiting 5+ years for a loan to mature...I'll probably have forgotten about Trine by then and they'll just go walk-about with my "forgotten" pocket change over there. Let me sleep over it...
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@fm_volker Yeah, I totally get that fear! Thankfully they send emails every time you get a repayment, and you can automate what happens with it: https://tutoteket.no/@forteller/112514978362986975
This is the only concrete example of a green investment the leader of Norway's largest environmental organization, Framtiden I Våre Hender, mentions in her book. :)
Børge
Trine sends out monthly reports on your investments. Even if there's not been any repayments this month, you get an estimate on how much co2 you've helped reduce by the solar power made with your investment. Pretty neat!
And now our combined impact (me + 6 people from the fediverse who have invested trough my link above) is inching closer to 80 tons of co2!
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