{"id":1320,"date":"2011-11-02T10:17:47","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T14:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/financing-for-renewable-energy-projects.html"},"modified":"2014-06-02T07:46:46","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T11:46:46","slug":"financing-for-renewable-energy-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/financing-for-renewable-energy-projects.html","title":{"rendered":"Financing for renewable energy projects"},"content":{"rendered":"Most of the cost of a corporate or personal renewable energy installation\r\ncan be funded through federal and state rebates, but the remainder\r\nis what stops most people. Here is what I know about that.\r\nThere are many other sources of information.\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.earthsponse.com\/Commercial\/SolarisAffordable.aspx\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/www.earthsponse.com\/portals\/0\/solar_financing-1.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nFederal 30% and Georgia 35% rebates add up to 65% (see below under\r\n<a href=\"#DSIRE\">DSIRE<\/a>).\r\nThat&#8217;s for solar (PV or hot water), wind, and some other related items.\r\n<p>\r\nThe other 35% is what stops most businesses and people.\r\n35% of a $25,000 house solar system is still $8,750.\r\nPeople like that it will pay itself off in 9-15 years,\r\nbut most people don&#8217;t have $8,750 to invest.\r\n<p>\r\nThat&#8217;s a business opportunity for some enterprising local bank or banks.\r\nAs\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/10\/notes-for-mr-blankenship-michael-noll.html\">\r\nDr. Noll has explained,<\/a>\r\nif you pay for that remainder yourself,\r\nthe system will pay itself off in about 9 years.\r\nIf you get a bank to finance it, more like 15 years.\r\nAnd local banks currently require collateral other than the system itself\r\n(they like real estate as collateral).\r\nThe simplest business opportunity is for a local bank to accept\r\nthe solar equipment itself as collateral.\r\nAfter all, it&#8217;s worth 65\/35 or 185% of the total loan amount.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gasolar.org\/index.php\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/www.gasolar.org\/images\/slide_logo.png\"><\/a>\r\nThe <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gasolar.org\/index.php\">\r\nGeorgia Solar Energy Association (GSEA)<\/a>\r\ncan probably tell you more.\r\n<p>\r\nOther ways to finance renewable energy projects include:\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/category\/solar-mosaic\">\r\nSolar Mosaic,<\/a> in which individuals buy shares in a solar installation.\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/category\/solarcity\">\r\nSolarCity,<\/a> which does everything from financing to installation.\r\n<\/ul>\r\nSolarCity was started by some Google alums, plus Elon Musk, who also\r\nfounded Paypal and SpaceX.  They are not yet operating in Georgia,\r\nbut they will probably get here eventually.\r\n<H2>Private Venture Capital<\/H2>\r\nThere is private venture capital looking for solar and renewable energy projects.\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/solarcity-gets-big-investment-from-google.html\">\r\nGoogle invested $280 million in SolarCity in June 2011<\/a>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/09\/local-leadership-nets-15-billion-solar-project.html\">\r\nNational Solar Power is installing a 400 MW $1.5 billion solar project<\/a>\r\nin Gadsden County, Florida, using private funding.\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThere are at least two venture capital firms looking for solar projects.\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/projects-that-can-actually-be-built-jeff-glavan-of-mp2-capital.html\">\r\nMP2 Capital<\/a> of San Francisco wants 1-5 MW projects\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2010\/07\/100-million-for-large-scale-solar-projects.html\">\r\nPowerFin<\/a> of Austin is looking for 2 MW (300,000 sq ft or 6.8 acres) and up\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThere are probably others; I haven&#8217;t tried to find all of them.\r\n<H2><a name=\"DSIRE\"><\/a>DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewables &#038; Efficiency.<\/H2>\r\n<table style=\"float:right;width:300px;\"  ><tr><td style=\"width: 300px; height: 115px;\r\nbackground-image: url(http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/images\/header\/header-bg.gif);\r\nbackground-repeat: no-repeat;\r\nbackground-position: 0px 0px;\"><\/td><\/tr><\/table>\r\nDSIRE is the usual information source for grants, rebates, and loans.\r\n<H3>DSIRE for federal<\/H3>\r\nFirst, before people start griping about subsidies, remember\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/04\/big-oil-tax-subsidies-9-billion-year-api.html\">\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   width=\"250\" height=\"837\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/cleantechnica.com\/files\/2010\/10\/solar-subsidized-like-fossil-fuels.jpg?resize=501%2C1674\"><\/a>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/04\/big-oil-tax-subsidies-9-billion-year-api.html\">\r\nfossil fuel gets many times the subsidies of renewable energy,<\/a>\r\nand if solar got the same subsidies it would be cheaper than\r\ncurrent grid power everywhere in the U.S.\r\n<p>\r\nFor that matter, if\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/10\/who-to-contact-about-nuclear-vs-solar.html\">\r\nGeorgia Power&#8217;s Construction Work in Progress (CWIP)<\/a>\r\naddon to their customer&#8217;s bills for the two new Plant Vogtle nuclear reactors\r\nwas applied to solar instead, Georgia Power would be installing a lot of solar!\r\n<p>\r\nIf you want to argue that nothing should get subsidies,\r\npoint noted, I don&#8217;t agree, and feel free to write your own blog post.\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/index.cfm?state=us\">\r\nDSIRE Federal webpage.<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThe big one is the 30%\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US02F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\nBusiness Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC)<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThere is a matching 30%\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US37F\">\r\nResidential Renewable Energy Tax Credit<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nOthers range\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>from\r\n<a href=\" http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US40F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\nenergy-efficient commercial buildings tax deduction<\/a> of $0.30 to $1.80 \/ sq ft\r\n<li>\r\nto\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US06F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\naccelerated depreciation<\/a> (100% bonus deprec. for 2010 and 50% for 2012),\r\n<li>\r\nto a\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US41F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\nhome builder tax credit for new homes<\/a> of $1,000 to $2,000.\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHUD has grants for\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/portal.hud.gov\/hudportal\/HUD?src=\/program_offices\/public_indian_housing\/programs\/ph\/phecc\/ginitiative\">\r\nrenewable energy and green construction and modernization<\/a>:\r\n<blockquote>\r\nHUD &#8220;strongly encourages Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to use solar,\r\nwind, geothermal\/ground coupled heat pumps and other renewable energy\r\nsources, and other &#8216;green&#8217; construction and rehabilitation techniques\r\nwhenever they procure for maintenance, construction, or modernization.&#8221;\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nThose could help with jobs in Valdosta among the communities most in\r\nneed of employment.\r\n<p>\r\nThat HUD web page has links to many national, regional, and state green\r\nbuilding programs for new construction and building rehabilitation.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/03\/quitman-solar-electricity-and-hot-water.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5257\/5527268808_055070fd69_m.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nKevin Skeath installed solar electricity and hot water last year\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/03\/quitman-solar-electricity-and-hot-water.html\">\r\nin a public housing project near Quitman.<\/a>\r\nI don&#8217;t know how it was funded, but the builder is in Valdosta.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sga-solarpower.com\/\">\r\nSouth GA Solar Power<\/a>\r\ncan also do local installations.\r\n<p>\r\nThe\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US05F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\nUSDA REAP grants<\/a>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/10\/yes-i-do-have-solar.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6095\/6254763265_469891edce_m.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n(like\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/10\/do-you-have-solar-energy-yourself-why-yes-yes-i-do.html\">\r\nthe one I just got<\/a>)\r\nare all allocated for this year, and it&#8217;s not\r\nclear what Congress is going to do about them next year.  I hear\r\nat the least they&#8217;re changing them from grants to rebates, and they\r\nmay not fund them at all.\r\n<H3>DSIRE for Georgia<\/h3>\r\nHere is\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/index.cfm?getRE=1?re=undefined&#038;ee=1&#038;spv=0&#038;st=0&#038;srp=1&#038;state=GA\">\r\nDSIRE&#8217;s web page for Georgia.<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\n<table style=\"float:right;width:212px;\"  ><tr><td style=\"width: 212px; height: 91px;\r\nbackground-image: url(http:\/\/www.gefa.org\/_gfx\/header_bg.gif);\r\nbackground-repeat: no-repeat;\r\nbackground-position: 0px 0px;\"><\/td><\/tr><\/table>\r\nGeorgia has a\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=GA37F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\n35% corporate clean energy tax credit<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gefa.org\/Index.aspx?page=423\">GEFA<\/a>).\r\n<p>\r\nAlso a\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=GA36F&#038;re=1&#038;ee=1\">\r\n35% personal clean energy tax credit<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gefa.org\/Index.aspx?page=423\">GEFA<\/a>).\r\n<p>\r\nBoth the corporate and personal tax credits are under the same program:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n&#8220;As part of the Georgia Energy Challenge, Georgia offers tax credits\r\nfor certain types of energy efficienct and renewable energy property\r\nas well as for the delivery of wood residuals to qualified biomass\r\nfacilities. The credits will be available to taxpayers placing qualified\r\nclean energy property in service between July 1, 2008, and December 31,\r\n2014. The program\u2019s annual cap is $2.5 million for 2008 through 2011\r\nand $5 million for 2012 through 2014.&#8221;\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nThis is the program that was\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/05\/georgia-clean-energy-tax-credits-yes-they-are-available.html\">\r\nrenewed this summer,<\/a>\r\nwith the doubled amount ($2.5M became $5M).\r\n<p>\r\nI hear all the funds for 2011 are already\r\nallocated, and most of those for 2012, but it&#8217;s possible to get in\r\nthe queue for 2013 funds and get them in 2013.\r\n<p>\r\nAlso visible under the above\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsireusa.org\/incentives\/index.cfm?getRE=1?re=undefined&#038;ee=1&#038;spv=0&#038;st=0&#038;srp=1&#038;state=GA\">\r\nDSIRE Georgia link<\/a> are these items:\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\nSeveral EMCs in the state have utility loan or rebate programs.\r\nMaybe the Chamber could help convince Colquitt EMC to do the same.\r\n<li>\r\nSeveral Georgia cities have local loan or rebate programs, or energy standards\r\nfor public buildings.\r\nMaybe the Chamber could help convince Valdosta or Hahira or Lake Park\r\nor Remerton or Dasher to do some of that.\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAustin, Texas, has long led the nation in solar rebates, and last year\r\nchanged to\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2010\/02\/encouraging-new-energy-production-via-solar.html\">\r\nfixed performance-based incentives (PBI).<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/this-is-what-a-mayor-with-vision-sounds-like.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5075\/5860613256_2c1363f1ca_m.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/this-is-what-a-mayor-with-vision-sounds-like.html\">\r\nSan Antonio is getting ahead<\/a> of Austin on sustainable energy and jobs:\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/91-of-voters-support-using-solar-power-in-nc-ivan-urlaub-of-ncsea.html\">\r\nNorth Carolina&#8217;s experience<\/a> indicates a key is getting local projects\r\nwidely distributed so everybody can see it working in their own back yard:\r\n<p>\r\nValdosta already has that with the\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/04\/wiregrass-solar-is-connected-to-the-grid-col-ricketts-vlcia-19-april-2011-.html\">\r\nWiregrass Solar plant<\/a>,\r\nand Lowndes County has it with\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2010\/09\/solar-hahira.html\">\r\nthree house-scale solar installations.<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nSpeaking of Wiregrass Solar, Sterling Planet\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/05\/expanding-wiregrass-solar-alden-hathaway-of-sterling-planet.html\">\r\nwould like to expand that array,<\/a>\r\nand\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/05\/using-oil-to-move-an-automobile-down-the-street-not-something-youre-going-to-see-in-20-to-25-years-p.html\">\r\nHannah Solar<\/a>\r\nhas all the solar incentive paperwork ready to go.\r\n<p>\r\nSo, basically anyone can get 65% off the installation of a moderate-sized\r\nsolar array.\r\nFor the remaining 35%, there are some solutions such as Solar Mosaic\r\nand SolarCity, and a business opportunity for local banks.\r\nSystems from 1-5 megawatts might attract venture capital financing.\r\nPlus there are many special cases, for example for public housing.\r\n<p>\r\n-jsq\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most of the cost of a corporate or personal renewable energy installation can be funded through federal and state rebates, but the remainder is what stops most people. Here is what I know about that. There are many other sources of information. Federal 30% and Georgia 35% rebates add up to 65% (see below under [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,40,142,14,264,265,23,24,332],"tags":[931,2865,1031,713,1970,8708,2339,8868,3507,3509,8713,8714,3508,8716],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-community","category-cwip","category-economy","category-energy-conservation","category-energy-efficiency","category-renewable-energy","category-solar","category-vlcoc","tag-conservation","tag-dsire","tag-efficiency","tag-financing","tag-gefa","tag-georgia-power","tag-gsea","tag-hannah-solar","tag-insulation","tag-kevin-skeath","tag-renewable-energy","tag-solar","tag-south-georgia-solar-power","tag-wind"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-li","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9233,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions\/9233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}