Solar power

A rule on certain federal SBA loans that caps borrowing at $5.5 million per person left fast food entrepreneur Dave Koch with indigestion earlier this year.

The lending ceiling would prevent Koch, pronounced “cook,” from meeting his fast-growth goals with Culver's, a Wisconsin-based chain of burger and frozen custard restaurants. But Koch discovered an antidote to the loan cap problem that comes, somewhat surprisingly, in the form of solar energy.

It's called the Green SBA 504 loan. It stipulates that SBA lending caps can go from $5.5 million per borrower to $5.5 million per project if the project generates renewable energy equal to 10% of its total consumption.