“The awakening of the US solar market will be driven by grid parity within each region. Federal incentives provide a good foundation for the expansion of the solar industry but state-level incentives are still needed to truly make solar energy competitive in each regional market. Over the next five years we believe that solar power will reach grid parity in a large portion of the US market, thus opening up the opportunity for significant expansion of the industry in the years to come,” says renewable energy advisor Eric Graber-Lopez of BlueWave Capital.

Former CEO of Sir Richard Bransons Carbon War Room Jigar Shah sees grid parity as a natural development: “Americans refuse to overpay for solar PV. Once the costs of solar PV are cheaper than the retail power prices – as they are for over 20% of Americans now – the local solar companies will significantly ramp up marketing campaigns,” he expects.

Both experts are speaking on The Solar Future Eastern USA ’12 conference on May 11th and 12th in New York.

At the moment the US is the 4th solar market in the world, after number one Germany and China on 3rd. In 2011, the Chinese market rose from 7th to 3rd and grew from ~500MW to ~2.5GW.  The US market grew from ~900MW to 2GW last year.

According to Joseph Berwind, founder of Alternative Energy Investing (AEI) Research & Consulting, grid prices in the US are cheap because of the enormous natural gas supplies in the North East and the new ways of drilling with fracking techniques. However, when distribution prices keep going up, new opportunities occur. Berwind: “Once the fuel prices are moving up, transportation and distribution prices are moving up, while new materials and new processes drive down prices of PV systems, that’s going to wake up the sleeping giant. This is just a matter of time.”

Jigar Shah calls the US market “a slow and steady market because it insists on providing only reasonable market based incentives for solar. This approach has resulted in a stable market with sustainable growth that should lead to a market of over 10 GW annually from 2016 and 25GW from 2020. 2012 will be a big year for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and DC.  New states will be coming online in 2012 as well including New Hampshire, Rhode island, Vermont, and Maine.”

Graber-Lopez also sees opportunities in the Eastern US. “They are and will continue to be driven by performance based incentives such as Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs). The primary markets for solar in the Eastern US are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Ohio. In addition, we expect New York to play a larger role in the industry over the next few years,” Graber-Lopez says.

More information: http://www.thesolarfuture.us

Boston- State environmental officials, hoping to produce clean power from idle and unwanted land, are urging towns and cities to turn some of nearly 500 former landfills into solar or wind energy farms.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x2042555761/Massachusetts-hopes-to-transform-old-landfills-into-solar-wind-projects#ixzz1f0tOCywf

I believe as solar becomes more and more affordable we will see a major explosion in the  number of commercial and residential installations. As it is right now, commercial projects, for most part, are a “No Brainer” for commercial property owners. ROI’s are very impressive, to say the least.

Now is the time to go Solar!

If the funding is there and the $numbers make sense, why are we not doing this to all our buildings?

“There is no such thing as FREE!!!!”

Now, for the most part, that statement is universally true but, anyone making that kind of bold statement of “FREE SOLAR PANELS” must have something of value or they wouldn’t be trying to get your attention with the word FREE.

With that being said, I want to talk to you about what the offer of “Free Solar Panels” and what that means to you.

If a company were to put $30,000 worth of solar panels on your Massachusetts home and in exchange all they asked was that you buy the electricity it produces, would that be FREE?

I would say, “NO!”

So lets look at it a different way. What if you are currently paying $100/mo for electricity and now with the Solar Panels, that you didn’t pay for, on your home/business you get it for $75/mo.  What would that mean to you?  Let’s figure it out?

You were paying $100 and now for the same amount of electricity you get it for $75. That means you are getting a $25 discount on something you were going to pay for anyway. Great deal…Right?

You are probably saying, I get it and I like that but where does the FREE part come in?

I am not sure yet… Let’s look at another way to get that $25/mo.

Well, in order to get that $25/mo savings on your electricity you would normally have to go out and purchase all kinds of expensive Energy Star light bulbs, appliances, windows, and insulation…right? How much would that cost?  $5,000? $20,000? …Who know? And who pays for that? ….That’s right you do!  Definitively not FREE but people do it every day just to save a few dollars.

Ok, let’s do it a different way. You get the FREE Solar Panels put on your house. You get $100 worth of electricity for $75 each month.

How much did that cost you?….Nothing…Right?

So if something cost you $0 and you save $25/mo then the FREE Solar Panles must be….wait for it…wait for it…

FREE!

If this all makes sense, why would anyone be afraid?

OK, here comes the hook.

If you would like to find out if your home/business qualifies, just contact me.

Artie Leonard

508-441-0921

juiceontheroof@gmail.com

From http://www.sustainablescituate.org/solarize-mass :

Financial Incentives for Participating in the Solarize Mass Pilot

Scituate’s participation in the Solarize Mass pilot presents an economically viable way to install a solar PV system to generate your electricity. There will be two options: leasing, with involves no upfront costs and a lower electric bill; and buying, with upfront costs, but with a range of financial incentives. The leasing option will be explained in detail during the meeting with the solar integrator in June. One should be aware, however, that the financial benefits of buying are substantial, and a leasing program would not even be offered, if the company doing the leasing were not to enjoy the benefits of owning the system that he is leasing to the homeowner.

For purposes of illustration, we will take the example of a 5 kW system, which is what is conservatively assumed to be needed for a 2500 square foot home. Costs for solar pv stand at around $6 per watt today, making this a $30,000 system. The Clean Energy Center will select a solar integrator who provides group discount incentives, with the intent of bringing that cost to $5 a watt or $25,000.

The state provides a basic rebate of .75 per watt or $3750, in this example, bringing the cost to $21,250. This would be the upfront cost of the system, if one arranges to have the rebate directly payable to the solar integrator. For those who buy a major component from a Massachusetts manufacturer, an additional rebate of .10 per watt is availble ($500). If one has a moderate income ($75,810 or less as an individual, $94,420 or less as a household) OR a moderate home value ($400K or less), there is an additional .85 per watt rebate ($4250). Being eligible for all state rebates bring the upfront cost to $16,500.

A sizable portion of those upfront costs, however, are refundable, due to federal and state tax credits. The federal credit of 30% would return $6375 (in the first scenario) or $4950 (in the second) and the state would return $1000. This brings the final cost of the system, for the person only entitled to the basic rebate, to $13,875. For the person entitled to all rebates, the final cost is $10,550. While this is a summary of the fixed costs and incentives in the example given, there are variable incentives, as well.

One is the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC). A 5 kW system generates 5 SRECs. Utility companies in Massachusetts are required to create solar energy or pay a fine. An alternative is to buy certificates from those who have installed solar pv systems and are creating solar energy. The minimum price for these certificates is $285, and the current maximum is $550. The price is set at quarterly auctions and fluctuates according to SREC availability. At a very minimum, the person with 5 SRECs to sell will get $1425 every year for a ten year period. The current maximum would be $2750 every year for ten years. Even at the minimum level, this variable benefit pays for the entire cost of the system purchased.

The incentives described thus far have covered the entire cost of the system and then some, and that is without even looking at the reason one does this to begin with — to generate electricity. The system you install will either generate a good part of the electricity you need, all that you need or more than you need. With Net Metering, the utility company is required to buy all the excess electricity you use and give you credit for it. So if you are overproducing in the summer, you can use those credits to pay when you are underproducing in the winter. Every year, the utility company will check the overall balance and if you have overproduced consistently, will pay you for the credits not used.

With regard to pay back periods, someone who sells their SRECs at the highest price, and who generates $100+ worth of electricity each month is looking at around $4000 of benefit per year. At a $10,550 total cost (for the person eligible for all three rebates), the payback may be around three years. Best case scenario. For a worst case scenario, someone who sells their SRECs at the lowest price and gets $60 of electricity per month is looking at about $2000+ of benefit per year. At a $13,875 total cost (for the person eligible only for the basic rebate), the payback period is around seven years.

Despite all the incentives, there is still the matter of the upfront costs. The easiest financing option at this time may well be a home equity loan or line of credit, both at historically low interest rates.

Locally, General Motor’s broke ground on an expansion to its White Marsh transmission plant just outside of Baltimore. The addition to the plant, which currently produces hybrid and heavy duty transmissions, will be dedicated to making critical components for electric motors. When the plant opens in 2013, the electric motor plant will be the first of its kind by a major U.S. automaker.

The expansion will include a 1.23MW rooftop solar system. Expected to generate nine percent of the plant’s energy consumption, the system will save approximately $330,000 during its lifetime.

According to GM Vice President Mike Robinson, “GM will offset up to 1,103 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the air per year – equivalent to the emissions from 216 passenger vehicles.”

Leading furniture retailer Ikea also recently announced the installation of solar PV systems on six of it’s east coast stores, two in Maryland. The Baltimore and College Park locations can expect panels as early as fall of this year. The plan for the two Maryland locations includes 7,840 panels that would offset 1,822 tons of carbon dioxide.

Also on the horizon is a $70 million dollar solar energy farm at a state prison near Hagerstown. The farm would sit on 50 state-owned acres surrounding the medium-security Maryland Correctional Institution and inmates will tend the grounds and keep the panels clean.

The 20MW farm is still waiting on the go ahead from state regulators. If approved, the project could be completed as early as 2012 and would generate enough energy to power 2,250 homes.

Article from Solar Energy World

Washington D.C. – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $1.4 billion loan to support Project Amp.  This project will support the installation of solar panels on industrial buildings across the country, with the electricity generated from those panels contributing directly to the electrical grid, as opposed to powering the buildings where they are installed.   Supported by funding from the 2009 stimulus bill, the solar generation project includes the installation of approximately 733 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which is nearly equal to the total amount of PV installed in the U.S. in 2010.  The project sponsor estimates Project Amp will create at least one thousand jobs over a four year period.

“This unprecedented solar project will not only produce clean, renewable energy to power the grid in states across the country, but it will help us meet the SunShot goal of achieving cost competitive solar power with other forms of energy by the end of the decade,” said Secretary Chu.   “In addition, Project Amp will create at least a thousand jobs across the U.S. and increase our global competitiveness in the clean energy race.”

Project Amp will enable a wide distribution of solar power over approximately 750 existing rooftops owned and managed by Prologis.  NRG Energy is the lead investor for the first phase of the project, which includes a 15.4 MW installation in Southern California.  Phase 1 will utilize at least 90 percent U.S. sourced components.  The power from Phase 1 will be sold to Southern California Edison.  Additional installations will be built in up to 28 states and the District of Columbia.

Project Amp is expected to produce up to one million megawatt hours annually, enough to power over 88,000 homes. At this level, the project is also expected to avoid approximately 580,000 tons of carbon pollution annually.  Project Amp’s application was submitted by the lender-applicant, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office administers three separate programs:  the Title XVII Section 1703 and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.   The loan guarantee programs support the deployment of commercial technologies along with innovative technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions while ATVM supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies.  Under all three programs, DOE has issued loans, loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling over $33 billion to support 37 clean energy projects across the U.S.  The program’s 20 generation projects produce nearly 29 million megawatt-hours annually, enough to power over two million homes.  Including Project Amp, the program has reserved or committed to over $12 billion in loan guarantees to solar generations projects.  DOE has also committed financing to support numerous other projects, such as three geothermal projects, the world’s largest wind farm and the nation’s first new nuclear power plant in three decades.  For more information, please visit the Loan Programs Office.

Source http://www.energy.gov/news/10391.htm