ABSTRACT
In the past years, I have been reading more and more about the “bankability of PV systems.” I found out from the Merriam Webster dictionary that the first known use of the word “bankable” was in 1818. I am writing a book about the PV industry and wanted to find out what the experts in word usage say what the word “bankability” mean and how does it relates to solar energy?Is “bankability” being used in other businesses? Why did this question never come up buying a condominium or an automobile? Being a born paranoid, I immediately assumed that for PV, “bankability” is a new barrier to enter the market established by the anti-PV forces. But I found the use of “bankability” also in another industry. It is mentioned in the Thesaurus of the Word for Windows®: It means “likely to bring in money.” This brings up an example: “a bankable movie star.”I came to the conclusion that it is obvious a project is considered bankable if lenders are willing to finance it. But in order to be willing to finance it, they need some assurance
to believe that they can get their money back possibly with a suitable profit. I realized what “bankability” means from a bank’s point of view when I compared the movie and the PV business. This can be understood from these two stories.
