Massachusetts = Large MW+ Solar Projects and Low SREC Prices In the Near Future I enjoy getting policy and finance updates at conferences from people who spend all day thinking about policy and finance. The 2012 Renewable Energy Vermont conference was no different. I also learned some great lessons about a community solar development… Continue reading “Massachusetts = Large MW+ Solar Projects and Low SREC Prices In the Near Future”
Community Solar Lessons Learned in Vermont – Jeff Forward @ Renewable Energy Vermont 2012 At the beginning of October, Renewable Energy Vermont held their annual conference. There were a number of amazing presentations and some struck me more then others. For the ones I really enjoyed, I decided to follow up with the presenters… Continue reading “Community Solar Lessons Learned in Vermont – Jeff Forward @ Renewable Energy Vermont 2012”
The OPEN PV Project: See Real Time Solar PV Installations from 2000 to 2012 and More Cool Info I just stumbled upon The Open PV Project that was compiled by NREL. It provides some cool vanity metrics, like a PV map of solar PV installations from 2000 to 2012, and so some very useful state by state market… Continue reading “The OPEN PV Project: See Real Time Solar PV Installations from 2000 to 2012 and More Cool Info”
Geothermal and Solar Installers: Get to Know Your Municipal Utility (It’s not a Waste of Time) “Municipal utilities are more open to trying new things than investor-owned utilities.” This is the lesson I took away from my visit to the Wyandotte Municipal Services as part of a delegation from the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. They’ve… Continue reading “Geothermal and Solar Installers: Get to Know Your Municipal Utility (It’s not a Waste of Time)”
State-by-State Comparison of Geothermal Heat Pump Legislation I want to thank John Rhyner, Greg Mueller and LI Geo for putting together this report. If you’re new to legislation around renewable thermal technologies this article will provide you a great overview and direction for where you can get… Continue reading “State-by-State Comparison of Geothermal Heat Pump Legislation”
New 10 Year $.12kWh TVA Solar PV Feed in Tariff –> Requires NABCEP Solar PV Entry Level Certification In September 2012, the TVA introduced a new solar PV feed-in-tariff. The TVA will for solar PV production at retail electric rates + a FIT rate for 10 years, and then just retail rates for the following 10 years. A few… Continue reading “New 10 Year $.12kWh TVA Solar PV Feed in Tariff –> Requires NABCEP Solar PV Entry Level Certification”
[Photo Guide] Installing Solar PV Racking on Flat Roofs in NYC For residential applications everyone knows that a 10 pitch metal seam room is as easy as you get can for residential solar, followed by high quality asphalt shingles. Unfortunately, there are a lot of places in the country, specifically in cities, where… Continue reading “[Photo Guide] Installing Solar PV Racking on Flat Roofs in NYC”
Alumni Profile: Virgil Bellini & the Growth of California Solar Thermal California Solar Thermal (CST) is a San Diego-based solar installation business on pace to do 42 solar thermal projects this year. According to California Solar Statistics data they are the #1 solar thermal company in southern California, and are currently… Continue reading “Alumni Profile: Virgil Bellini & the Growth of California Solar Thermal”
[Photos] Repairing a 30 Year Old Solar Thermal System in NYC Last week, I spent a day repairing a solar thermal system that has been operating for more then 30 years in NYC. I just wanted to share a few pictures and points because it’s super cool. The system was installed… Continue reading “[Photos] Repairing a 30 Year Old Solar Thermal System in NYC”
Are Solar Renewable Energy Credits Taxable? There has been much recent discussion on solar and energy blogs and in other discussion forums relating to the tax treatment of Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (“SREC”) income. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of… Continue reading “Are Solar Renewable Energy Credits Taxable?”
Guide to Bridge Financing For Solar EPC Contractors Over the past month, I’ve seen a pick up in the amount of companies that are offering ‘bridge financing’ to small and middle size solar PV contractors. So, I thought I would put together a short post and a free… Continue reading “Guide to Bridge Financing For Solar EPC Contractors”
Part 3: How to Design Grid-Connected Solar PV Inverters, Strings, and Conductors This is a the third installment in a three-part series on residential solar PV design. The goal is to provide a solid foundation for new system designers and installers. This section is dedicated to the basics of inverter sizing, string… Continue reading “Part 3: How to Design Grid-Connected Solar PV Inverters, Strings, and Conductors”
Betting on the Decline of Residential Solar PV Financing Here is a crazy thought: we will know that solar pv has become mainstream when 3rd party financiers are no longer needed. I’m very bullish on the ability of 3rd financiers to be able to compete with the general trend of the… Continue reading “Betting on the Decline of Residential Solar PV Financing”
“What’s the Most Efficient?” Geo VS Solar Thermal VS Solar PV I’m doing some sales consulting work in NYC, and there’s one question I’m getting a lot from property owners: “What is the most efficient renewable energy technology?” In the city, they are mainly speaking of solar PV vs solar thermal,… Continue reading ““What’s the Most Efficient?” Geo VS Solar Thermal VS Solar PV”
Finance 101 for Solar Thermal Pros In this article, I’ll go through the basic step-by-step process of how to evaluate, understand and communicate the financial benefits of investing in a solar thermal system. The analysis will be on the client side, but obviously it’s critical for… Continue reading “Finance 101 for Solar Thermal Pros”
[Interview] 5 Key Lessons Learned about a Homeowner’s Solar Buying Process I’ve been doing a lot of interviews with companies that are selling renewable energy services, but what I’m really interested in learning about is how property owners are making their purchasing decisions. If we can better understand the customer, it will… Continue reading “[Interview] 5 Key Lessons Learned about a Homeowner’s Solar Buying Process”
Jigar Shah’s Call to Arms For Small Solar Companies Everywhere This week I flew to Chicago for the Illinois Solar Energy Association fund raiser. Jigar Shah delivered the keynote to 70 registrants, packed into Emmett’s Place in Palatine. I left at 9:30pm with an excited sense that Solar PV in… Continue reading “Jigar Shah’s Call to Arms For Small Solar Companies Everywhere”
Large Installers and Financiers DOMINATE the MASS Residential Solar Market, with 76% and 74% Market Share Respectively, and Other Interesting Data The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has made data on the number of project funded through the Commonwealth solar grant available public. Find the on MA CEC’s website or download it here in excel format. The data is very detailed and… Continue reading “Large Installers and Financiers DOMINATE the MASS Residential Solar Market, with 76% and 74% Market Share Respectively, and Other Interesting Data”
Finance 101 for Solar PV Professionals In order to sell solar PV projects, especially commercial projects, you need to understand finance. Understanding finance will allow you to calculate and communicate the financial benefit of a system to your client. Download the Commercial Solar Finance Model Read… Continue reading “Finance 101 for Solar PV Professionals”
Part 2: How to Design PV – A Walkthrough of How to Size a Solar Array and Estimate Power Production This is the 2nd article in a series about how to design solar PV projects. We started with solar 101, the basics. If you’re brand new or need to brush up on the basics, please read it first. It discusses… Continue reading “Part 2: How to Design PV – A Walkthrough of How to Size a Solar Array and Estimate Power Production”