Think Twice About that Solar Lease… 

We’re seeing more and more customers putting leased solar panels on their homes these days, and entering into arrangements with large companies who use the space on houses’ roofs to generate power and sell it back to the homeowner. 

Though Infinite Sun Energy will likely begin offering lease programs later this year, we will continue to highly recommend retaining ownership of your system at all times.  Here are reasons why, if possible, you should stubbornly stick to ownership of your system:
 

1. Savings.  By owning your system, you keep all the savings from your investment instead of handing about half of it to a financial institution.  It may be a bit more pain now, but it will be long forgotten during the 25-year+ service life of the system.
2. Home value.  A leased solar system doesn't enhance home value since it is always the property of the leasing company.  It does not translate to a higher selling price.  Anyone you may want to sell the home to in the future will need to like the system and agree with the terms they inherit.  In this case, leased solar may – or may not - be an advantage in selling your home, because:
3. The available space on the roof of your home is becoming more and more valuable every time the power company raises rates.  In five years, solar lease homeowners will likely want to own their energy production system, but may be unable to economically regain the use their own roof.  Home buyers will prefer to buy a home where the solar system is actually included in the purchase price because they’ll get full electric bill savings and they can deduct the interest on the home mortgage, which will include the solar system.
4. Independence.  Solar energy is one of the last great opportunities for average people to assert their freedom from huge companies.  What good is extricating one's self from the electric company only to become intertwined with a leasing company? 
5. Technological currency.  Leasing companies often put older, less powerful solar panels on lease clients' roofs to clear out warehouses full of unsold inventory.  This is true even of well-known names in the business.  If you must lease, make sure you know what they are offering and that you are getting current technology.
6. Personal transportation.  You may not be thinking it now, but within five years, you may well be motivated to buy an electric vehicle.  If you do, it will represent a significant increase in the amount of energy you use, and that will push you into higher rate tiers with PG&E.  Keeping control of your roof allows you to control the price of your transportation to a greater degree in the future.

Solutions to avoid leasing and get into ownership:

• A Home Improvement loan that you pay in <5 years.  At least the bulk of the savings over 25 years will fall right in your pocket.
• A Home Equity loan.  Once again, make accelerated payments and get the additional benefit of deducting the interest from your income tax.
• Phase your installation over a period of 1 – 3 or more years.  Let me say that again…

PHASE YOUR SOLAR INSTALLATION IN AFFORDABLE SEGMENTS OVER 1 – 3 OR MORE YEARS

A solar energy system is a long-term investment in a highly durable asset.  Why then, look at it as an “all or nothing” proposition?  While phasing an installation over time is a bit more expensive than purchasing a system all at once, the additional expense is nothing like interest or leasing fees.  Here are some of the benefits of phasing:

1. You significantly reduce your cash barrier to entry to solar.  A $12,000 initial investment is obviously much easier to handle than a $30,000 one.
2. You start saving right away.  And if you are paying for significant amounts of electricity in the top two tiers of the rate card, you offset those with your first phase.  This step actually helps you save for the next portion of the project.
3. There’s no long term commitment to spend.  If you find your self needing to hold off to finish saving for a subsequent phase, you’re always in control of your own destiny.
4. You stay independent and take control of your energy future by taking control of your energy price.

There are technological approaches that can help you phase a project.  Buying an oversized inverter and adding a string of panels in a <12 month time frame can be very effective.  Micro-inverters give the homeowner almost unlimited freedom to choose system size and subsequent phase sizes. 

Here's how a phased project might look:

Phase I - Install 11 Aleo panels and SMA 4000 Inverter

Phase II - Add four additional Aleo panels to fill out first string on SMA inverter

Phase III  - Complete the system by adding the final nine to bring the total to 24 panels and 5.28 kW.

Contact us at 1(888) 479-5602 to learn more about this rewarding approach and to find out how it can serve you.  www.InfiniteSunEnergy.com

In case you're currently considering a PV solar system, we're nearing the end of California's EPBB rebate at step 6. 

What does this mean to you?  It means the size of the state rebate you receive for installing a residential system will decline by 41% as we step down from a $1.10 per watt incentive to $.65 per watt.  In terms of percentage change, this is the largest incentive decline we've seen in this program so far. 

How long do you have to decide?  Some solar companies are advertising that the remaining incentive will last only one month.  That seems a little alarmist, but with the onset of spring, the end of tax season, and the end of the rebate itself, it's possible we see a surge in requests for the remaining incentives to be reserved for homowners.  Remember, this is a big percentage step down.

How do you get the bigger incentive?  Choose a system to install and have your solar company reserve your incentive at the current step.  You will need to be in contract for a system, but making this move soon will reserve your place in Step 6 for a year. 

If you'd like to track the progress of this depleting incentive yourself, go to

 http://www.csi-trigger.com/

Watch this Blog for more updates on the rebate...

Have a look at these photos and our customer's informative blog about his 6.44kW solar installation in San Francisco at:

http://www.andyman.org/solar

In case you're wondering, Infinite Sun Energy is "Company C" in the blog text.

As a General Engineering, Class A Contractor (Calif License # 900871), Infinite Sun Energy was able to contribute to the whole installation process for AndyMan's project.  ISE engineer, Thomas Houghton, was able to determine the structural soundness of Andy's roof and get San Francisco city approval to do the project without additional modifications.  ISE electrician, Rick Baird, prescribed and made necessary changes to Andy's electrical system in order to pass inspection after the additional system load was put on line. 

Careful collaboration between Infinite Sun Energy and Andy's chosen roofer, Mr. Roofing produced the exemplary job you see in the photos below:

Shouldn't your solar installation be this well built?  Call Peter toll-free at

1-888 479-5602 or visit www.infinitesunenergy.com

While PG&E increases rates by 5% for the typical customer starting in January 2010, the price of solar electricity becomes more attractive - again...

(Article below reproduced from Mercurynews.com)

PG&E customers will start the New Year with rate hikes

In the past few weeks, several pool owners have contacted Infinite Sun Energy about installing solar arrays to offset their high electricity bills. 

The smallest of the bills belongs to homeowners who have a 2,500 sq. ft. home and bills that average $150 per month.  Since they have a solar pool water heater, electricity bills are actually lower in the summer than in the winter.  They economize on electricity in a variety of other ways, including bypassing the use of their electric clothes dryer in favor of air-drying laundry in the backyard. 

#2 on our pool hit-parade belongs to a customer who has done everything he can in the way of energy efficiency in the rest of his home, but still suffers monthly bills over $350 per month on average.  Summer electricity bills are over $500.  He expects energy rates in the future to continue to skyrocket in California as they have since 1970.  Annual rate increases since then have been an average of 6.7% per year, well over the rate of inflation.  An engineer by trade, this homeowner wonders what the price of electricity will do when the additional demand caused by plug-in electric cars starts to kick in.

The third pool owner who is looking at a solar energy system is in a large home over 5,000 sq. ft., and pays summer electricity bills approaching $1,000 per month. 

What do all three have in common? 

Their projected rewards for a photovoltaic solar energy system are always very strong, since they are currently paying the bulk of their electricity bills in the premium charge ranges.  That is, they pay $.26 or more per kWh for the majority of the power they use.  Much of their consumption is charged in the top $.44/kWh range.  When they install solar electricity systems, they’ll enjoy a variety of benefits:

§         Their solar systems will shave off the most expensive power they currently buy.  Even if the solar system they install only generates 20% of their current kWh consumption, it’s likely they’ll be cutting their bill by as much as 33% or more.  Even the smallest consumers of the three discussed above would save 57% of his electricity bill, even though his solar arrays generate only 44% of his current need. 

§         Each of these homeowners can be sure they’re in a more stable financial position in the future.  The power company can continue raise rates, but they will have locked in the price of electricity production at rates below what they currently pay.  That’s a big advantage, considering the 25 year expected service life of a photovoltaic solar system.

§         Their investments in solar are secure.  Not only does a solar system increase their homes’ values by a factor greater than their current cash outlay, the system makes their homes more desirable properties if and when they should decide to sell.

§         All three of these solar buyers will be "striking while the iron is hot".  California is currently among the solar-friendliest states in the U.S. allowing a state rebate against the purchase price of the solar system in addition to 30% federal tax credit.  No one is sure whether either or both incentives will continue or for how long.  Couple that with savings on solar panels because demand in Japan and Europe has declined for the moment.  Able to take advantage of all three incentives, Californians are in a unique position to make the solar decision now and avoid the competition for solar that will happen as global economies rebound and as additional U.S. states get more aggressive about solar adoption incentives.  

Don’t have a pool?  Make no mistake, if your electric bill makes you uncomfortable each month, there’s a solar solution that will make sense.  Getting the answers is simple. 

Gather your electric bills, and contact Infinite Sun Energy.

A satellite image showed a recent Infinite Sun Energy client’s sloped roof with the peak running exactly north and south.  This seemed to leave nothing but a due west or due east roof orientation in direct sunlight for an ISE solar energy system.  The southern edge of the home, at least from the satellite, seemed hidden by shade, trees and other vegetation (see below).  “Not a good candidate for solar” I thought. 

Nevertheless, the owner wanted a site evaluation. 

Upon visiting the site, I could see what had been hidden from the satellite; a hip roof with a sizeable triangular portion facing due south.  In person, it was clear this roof was actually only partially shaded and large enough for a significant solar installation. 

Two more factors worked in the homeowner’s favor for solar.  First, he owns the trees and bushes shading the south-facing roof, so he is in control of the shade on his house, and second, he pays one of PG&E’s premium rate plans.  Any photovoltaic solar solution he installs would shave off at least part of the most expensive energy he buys.  Turns out this owner knew what he was doing when he called us. 

A shade evaluation, using a Solmetric SunEye solar shade analyzer, revealed that even with the current trees, his south-facing roof had 71% insolation.  Said another way, the “invisible” roof was really only 29% shaded each day on average.  That’s plenty of available sunlight under the circumstances.  Amazingly, the small solar system we designed for this owner still pays for itself in a reasonable time frame, offsets 25% of his high electric bill and enhances the value of his home more than the price he’ll pay for the system after his federal tax credit and state rebate. 

Now, let’s see about carefully trimming some trees…

(Photo Google Earth)