MainNet Communications has announced its new financing program for municipal utilities deploying Solo, the company's smart grid solution.

This new program will give municipal utilities the opportunity to implement a turnkey, complete end-to-end AMI and smart grid solution with little or no initial investment. The Tax Exempt Lease Purchase program offered by MainNet through Mosaic International is a low interest lease and can be structured for terms of up to 15 years.

"The combination of low interest and the long term financing lets many municipal utilities have the opportunity to experience the benefits and cost savings from our smart metering solution today," said Joe Marsilii, MainNet's CEO. "The lease terms in many cases create a positive cash flow for the municipal utility because the cost savings from AMI are greater than the lease payments," added Marsilii.

"We are committed to helping utility companies enter the Smart Grid age, and with our new program, more utilities can now afford it," said Costa Apostolaksi, MainNet's COO. "Utility companies joining the program can enjoy a cost-effective, flexible and reliable AMI solution, which will meet all their Smart Grid requirements today and for years to come," continued Apostolakis.

The Solo platform combines MainNet's field-proven Ethernet-based power line communication system with an IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee RF Mesh network to ZigBee-enabled meters. It also serves as the infrastructure for additional Smart Grid applications, including in-home load switches, thermostats and smart appliances; reading of other utility meters (e.g. water and gas), and much more. The communications network is based on open protocols and allows the utility to add applications by connecting any ZigBee-based or Ethernet- based device to the network, including distribution automation switches, sensors and other devices from a wide variety of standards-based products. Also included in the solution are meters with under-the-glass meter interface modules (MIMs) and back-office software tools for AMI and a variety of other Smart Grid applications.