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Source: Clean Energy States Alliance

 The Energy Trust of Oregon, a nonprofit public purpose organization dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy development, is partnering with the City of Portland and local neighborhood coalitions to offer residents of Portland a unique group purchasing mechanism for installing solar electric systems in their communities. Solarize Portland is an innovative program that helps residents overcome the financial and logistical hurdles of going solar. The project featured a single installer selected through a competitive process; a low, set price for participants; community-led marketing and outreach; educational workshops and a limited enrollment period. The effort was an unprecedented success, resulting in 120 new, home photovoltaic systems in five months, more than three times the number of systems installed in the city of Portland in 2008.

Energy Trust has been working for years to address the financial and policy barriers homeowners encounter when they start down the path to solar. The organization has developed several successful marketing strategies to make it easier for home and business owners to go solar in Oregon. However, Solarize Portlandwas a unique opportunity to roll community building and education, smart marketing, green job creation, and economies of scale into a single package. “It was a true triple bottom line success. You don’t get those very often,” says Lizzie Rubado, senior solar project manager, Energy Trust. Solarize Portland tackled the primary market barriers for homeowners looking to go solar: upfront cost, discomfort with contractors and the sales process, unfamiliarity with solar technology, financial complexity, and inertia. Above all, it was designed to be simple to engage and enroll in, featuring:

• Grassroots outreach and promotion by neighborhood volunteers
• Competitively selected contractor with set pricing tiers
• Educational workshops
• Free site assessments for all enrollees to determine suitability
• Incentives of $2.25/watt, plus state and federal tax credits
• Limited-time enrollment period

Though known up-front, pricing for Solarize Portland depended on the volume of participation from the community. It ranged from $7.20/watt for very little participation, down to $6.80/watt for more than 150 kilowatts of cumulatively installed capacity. However, enrollment in Solarize Portland was so fast that it became apparent early on that the price for all participants would be $6.80/watt—29 percent less than the average price in Portland at the time.

Critical to the success of Solarize Portland was the collaboration of Energy Trust, a statewide nonprofit organization with deep solar expertise and market familiarity, with Southeast Uplift  Neighborhood Coalition (SE Uplift), a local nonprofit experienced in engaging citizens and implementing community projects. The project design made the most of each organization’s strengths and credibility with homeowners. Outreach was led by SE Uplift and a corps of dedicated volunteers from five of its neighborhoods. In addition, a project website was created at www.solarizeportland.org. This website, which was written and maintained by a neighborhood volunteer, became the central resource for information about the project as it progressed.

Workshops
To make it easy for homeowners to get up to speed, Solarize Portland delivered a series of educational workshops. All interested neighbors were strongly encouraged to attend one of five introductory, one-hour seminars, held in each of the neighborhoods that were actively recruiting participants. These seminars were a Solarize Portland crash course, explaining how the project worked, the benefits of buying in bulk, how to participate and a brief introduction to solar. After attending an introductory workshop, those who wanted  additional, in-depth information were also invited to attend Q&A sessions held after business hours, three weeks in a row. These informal, open-format sessions covered different topic areas, including incentives, tax credits and financing; technical nuts and bolts; and net metering.

Results
The original goal was to enroll 50 homeowners and achieve 25 installations through the effort. Solarize Portland and its unique and successful melding of community activism, education and bulk purchasing, enrolled more than 300 homes in six weeks. In the end, 120 residential solar electric systems were installed in six months—more than triple the 38 installations completed on homes citywide in 2008. The 120 installations added 350 kilowatts of new PV capacity to Portland, and will produce an estimated 359,000 kWh of electricity per year. The project also helped provide 18 professional wage jobs for site assessors, engineers, project managers, journeyman electricians, and roofers.

The concept has grown into a winning model that is spreading quickly to other neighborhoods in Portland and beyond. The City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is helping other neighborhood organizations to take Solarize Portland citywide. Thanks to their support, Solarizeprojects are gearing up now in both Northeast and Southwest Portland, with goals forecasting another 500+ installations in 2010. Meanwhile, Pendleton, a rural city in northeastern Oregon, will launch its community bulk-purchasing project in late March of 2010.

Lessons learned and recommendations for other organizations

• Plan for success: People love a good deal. Expect high levels of interest.
• Collaborate with a trusted, local organization: Let them take center stage as much as possible. They know how to talk to their constituents. You’ll also be laying the groundwork for an organization filled with solar-savvy advocates.
• Consider multiple installers: If you are targeting a community with the potential to secure more than 50 installations, select more than one contractor. Creating a queue of enthusiastic neighbors that then have to wait to be served can kill the buzz. Serving them immediately will increase the likelihood that they will install.
• Keep it focused: Define your participation area to limit the scope of your effort and keep it cost effective for your installer.
• Start early and give yourself time: Select your contractor(s) before beginning your outreach so you have answers to all your questions ahead of time. This also gives the contractor time to wrap up projects with previous clients.
• Keep it simple: Avoid creating options for people. Each decision increases the chance that you’ll lose them along the way.
• Don’t get disheartened with dissenters: This isn’t for everyone. Some people will object to the lack of choices. Connect them to the standard offer.
• Don’t be afraid to talk money: Consumers are hungry for comparative cost statistics. Being transparent speeds decision-making.
• Beg, borrow or steal a dedicated project manager: There will be lots of responsibilities to juggle and you need a single point of contact for fielding inquiries.
• Use an online sign-up: Preferably one connected to a database. You will save yourself a lot of work.

“This project has truly brought our community together, all moving toward one goal,” said Tim O’Neal, sustainability coordinator, SE Uplift. “From attending workshops to watching as neighbors went solar street by street — it’s been great to see what we’ve been able to accomplish as a group.”

Special thanks to Lizzie Rubado of the Energy Trust of Oregon for her assistance in preparing this Solar Spotlight.

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File Source: Clean Energy States Alliance

The New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) is part of a comprehensive statewide solar program known as the California Solar Initiative (CSI).The NSHP implements the Energy Commission’s portion of the CSI and provides financial incentives to encourage the installation of eligible, solar energy systems on new residential construction. The Energy Commission will work with builders and developers to incorporate high levels of energy efficiency and high-performing solar systems to help create a self-sustaining solar market.

 The NSHP seeks to achieve 400 megawatts of installed solar electric capacity in California by the end of 2016.

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Source: California Energy Commission

For more information, please see their website by clicking here.

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Source: California Public Utilities Commission

Over the past decade, states have played an increasingly important role in providing financial support to renewable energy projects, with funding often derived from state-established public benefit funds. The financial support tools for renewable energy projects have ranged from rebates to competitive grants to loans. Complementing these tools has been a set of public policies— tax incentives, net metering and interconnection rules, renewable portfolio standards—passed by state legislatures and regulators. Recently, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) also provided significant funding to states to support clean energy investments.

The purpose of this report is to describe the many financing options available to state energy offices, municipal governments, and other energy agencies for utilizing public funds for clean energy project support. The report analyzes their strengths and weaknesses and identifies best practices. One key finding is that, while each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, the use of these tools as a portfolio of approaches creates the most robust, effective programs.

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Connecticut Solar Lease Program

The groundbreaking introduction of a state-sponsored solar leasing program has drawn national attention and an onslaught of additional leasing programs and financing options have developed as a result. The Connecticut Solar Lease Program is a Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) initiative that was begun in 2008 and designed to eliminate the high upfront capital cost associated with solar photovoltaic (PV) system installations.  One of the  first of its kind in the nation, CT Solar Lease Program uses a combination of rebates and tax credits to help moderate and low income residents in the state gain access to clean, renewable solar energy.

The Connecticut Solar Lease Program addresses affordability issues for homeowners interested in installing residential solar energy systems. Eligible Connecticut homeowners—those residents whose household income is 200% or less of their area’s median income and meet the credit qualifications of the program—have the opportunity to install a cutting-edge solar system on their home with no down payment required and a low fixed monthly payment.  

While electricity prices are projected to continue to rise, the monthly CT Solar Lease payment will remain constant. In addition, homeowners enrolled in the program will benefit from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) Solar Rebate Program. Because CT Solar Leasing owns the solar PV system, it can take advantage of business tax incentives, further reducing the cost of the system on the homeowner. To procure a system, homeowners work with an eligible solar installer of their choice; over twenty installers have been pre-approved by the CCEF and CT Solar Leasing. Lessees also receive Solar Dividends, allowing them to share in the sale of the panel’s generation of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) where 1 REC is earned for every megawatt (MW) of electricity generated by the system. The money from the earned RECs goes into an account that lessees can use towards paying for a new inverter or towards the cost of system removal. Homeowners receive full use of the system for fifteen years at a fixed cost, with the option to buy. At the end of the fifteen year lessees have the option to buy the system from CT Solar Leasing at its current value, extend the lease for an additional five years at a reduced monthly rate, or have the system removed at their own expense with no future obligation. For more information on The Connecticut Solar Lease Program click here. 

Table 1 – CT Solar Leasing – Estimated Costs Table (click here for source)

The uniqueness of the CT Solar Lease Program encompasses several factors. To start, it is the first time that a ratepayer funded organization such as CCEF has partnered with financial institutions to leverage federal business tax credits in order to make renewable energy more affordable.  Secondly, the CT Solar Lease Program’s financial model is especially innovative because it was designed to allow valuable benefits to the customer such as low fixed payments and zero down payments.  Thirdly, the financial model also allows funding to come back to the program leveraging CCEF’s investments and benefitting Connecticut ratepayers.

(The PV Peer Network featured the CT Solar Lease Program as the focus of one of its webinars on Sept. 19, 2008. The webinar materials and audio file from the event are located on the PV Peer Network page of this website at http://www.statesadvancingsolar.org/state-activities/pv-peer-network.)

Electric utility companies have recognized the increasing importance homeowners and businesses are placing on clean, accessible, and affordable renewable energy.  Since the introduction of Connecticut’s program, many private companies have unveiled leasing programs for both residential and commercial markets.

SolarCity Lease provides affordable solar leasing options for businesses and homeowners in California, Arizona, and Oregon. Similar to CT Solar Lease, SolarCity offers leasing options for no money down and low monthly payments. The flagship company partnered with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation to ensure the financing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for a wide range of potential lessees. The company supplies financing, design, installation, monitoring, and maintenance for all of its solar leasing clients. Utilizing cutting edge proprietary software, SolarCity is capable of analyzing potential solar production, financials and environmental impacts for each client, managing thousands of concurrent projects, and automating key processes to further cut costs. The company is able to finance small commercial spaces as small as 20 kilowatts, to systems that generate upwards of 1,000 kilowatts or more. As of July, 2009 SolarCity had struck leasing agreements with over 3,500 homeowners, businesses, and schools.

SunRun PPA has a similar model to that of SolarCity and operates within California, Massachusetts, and Arizona. SunRun is the first company to strike an agreement with a local utility company, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), which has resulted in even lower cost leasing options for SunRun customers within the Los Angeles area.

FreEner-g, a newcomer to the scene, is a Minnesota leasing company starting a program out of the Twin Cities area. FreEner-g has marketed itself as an eco-venture with a triple-p approach: people, planet, and profit. The pilot project is being partially funded through customers of Xcel Energy through a $1.5M grant from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund. The Solar Assessment phase of the project began in August of 2008; currently, frEner-g is in the midst of the Solar Installation phase. By installing approximately fifty solar systems on homes and small businesses, freEner-g plans to deliver 280 kilowatts of installed solar capacity throughout the Twin Cities.  

Urban Electric Company recently announced their plans to create a Solar Equipment Lease program in the Philadelphia area. Like all companies whose state law requires net metering, Urban Electric Company solar system meters track the net difference between energy flowing in and out of the home and utility companies compensate for excess power fed back into the system.

While the above sampling of companies providing solar leasing programs vary in specific financing options and lease lengths, all the providers have been attracting customers with projected savings on monthly energy bills, solar system maintenance agreements, and guaranteeing high system performance. As more and more individuals and companies realize the financial and environmental advantages of solar leasing programs, expect to see more options available to consumers countrywide.

 http://www.ctsolarlease.com/documents/NRELSolarLeasePaperMarch2009.pdf 

 http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/44853.pdf

This program summary and other State Solar Spotlight Program case studies can be found on this website under State Activities.

IREC has just released its annual report, U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008. The report, authored by Larry Sherwood, provides public data on U.S. solar installations by technology, state, and market sector. Both PV and solar thermal installations grew rapidly in 2008. This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Solar Energy Technologies Program.

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U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008

State Solar Spotlight:  August 2010

Focus on Energy: Solar Hot Water Incentive Program

Bonus incentives are available for projects that incorporate efficiency, and adders may also be available from local utilities. Due to the maturation of and increased interest in efficiency and solar technologies in Wisconsin, the incentive levels and procedures for project approval are subject to change in 2011.
  

The levels of incentives provided are one factor in stimulating commercial solar hot water installations in Wisconsin, but other, non-monetary program elements are just as important. These elements include:

• Technology specificity: Focus on Energy has developed a program just for commercial solar hot water, meaning it is not in competition with other technologies that may meet different objectives (such as PV for electricity generation).
• Non-competitive, ongoing: As long as funds remain in the program and all elibility criteria are met, commercial solar hot water projects are assured funding in a first-come, first-served manner on a rolling basis.
• Simple paperwork: Focus on Energy provides a form with detailed instructions for the customer and his or her installer to fill out, requiring all the information that the program administrators will need to determine a project’s eligibility. The installer base has been well-trained to facilitate the submission of this paperwork for approval.
• Broad applications allowed: Focus allows for systems in situations ranging from hot water to process heating to pools heating, meeting the needs of most potential high-use customers.
• Assistance offered: Focus helps customers at both the front and the back ends of the process, from offering discounted site assessments, design review, a list of installation requirements, and a preapproved list of contractors to verifying systems post-completion and requiring monitoring systems on larger installations, so the program and the customer can track a system’s effectiveness.

The following chart illustrates the success of the program since its inception:

These incentives have served a wide variety of applications, including:

• Dentists’ offices
• Laundromats
• Landscaping firms
• Churches
• Health care clinics
• Hospitals
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Schools
• Public pools
• Apartments
• Industrial applications

Special thanks to Kari  Heinrich, Solar Hot Water Lead,  Focus on Energy for her assistance in preparing this Solar Spotlight.

A PDF file of this program summary and other State Solar Spotlight Program case studies can be found on this website under State Activities.

This report examines incentives available to reduce the cost of owning and operating a PV system and creative ways to combine them into a comprehensive financial package for residential PV systems. This report explains new financing mechanisms such as solar leases, residential power purchase agreements, property tax assessment models, renewable energy credit-based loans and community-based PV deployment models that are being offered by states and municipalities to support residential PV deployment.

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http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/44853.pdf