Lessons Learned: One persons journey to purchase solar panels.

1. My Journey to
Purchase Solar
Panels
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2. Agenda
1. How to pick a system
2. How to calculate your payback
3. How to choose a qualified integrator
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3. Here’s very little about me
• I’m an Economist*
• I like key lime pie
* Masters of Science in Economics from
Florida State University, 1983
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4. I don’t worry about my carbon
footprint
* Unless it pays to be “green.”
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5. Important entities recognizes my
reluctance to “save the planet”*
30% Federal Government tax credit
35% North Carolina State tax credit
$4,700 Progress Energy utility rebate
* So they provide incentives to install a Photovoltaic Solar Energy System.
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6. My selfish priorities
• An extraordinarily high return on investment
• A short payback period
* Show me the money
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7. Step 1
PICK A SYSTEM
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8. Important Questions
• How many Kilowatt-Hours do you want to
generate a year?
• Where will the unit be installed?
• Do you want to leave surface area on your
roof for future panel expansion?*
* If so, then you may need higher efficiency
panels depending on your roof area
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9. Some things won’t matter to you
• Panel aesthetics is a lower
priority purchase criteria
for me.
• This should be obvious by
looking at my dog Andy.
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10. Some things will matter a lot
• Warranty is important to me.
• However, the financial stability of the
company must also be considered.
• What good is a warranty if the company goes
out of business?*
* My recommendation: Pick a tier 1 solar
panel vendor
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11. Line up the options side-by-side
SunPower 230 LG 255 REC 240
Price $$$$ $$$ $$
Panel Conversion efficiency 18.5% 15.8% 14.5%
Number of Panels* 22 24 22
kilowatts 5.10 6.12 5.28
Kilowatt-Hours 6,224 6,925 5,975
Dimensions Length x Width Length x Width Length x Width
Warranty 10 year 10 year 5 year
Inverter SunPower SMA SunnyBoy SB SunnyBoy
7000 7000
* This is the number of panels my installation
requires to achieve my energy goals.
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12. Does panel size matter?
• A low conversion factor likely means a larger /
heavier panel.
• Impact:
– Larger panels limit the total Kilowatt-Hours you
can produce with a fixed amount of space on your
roof
– Larger panels leave less real estate on your roof
for future expansion
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13. Step 2
SHOW ME THE MONEY
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14. Total Savings
+ Lower Monthly Energy Bill
+ Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS)
+ Lower Off Peak hour utility charges*
= Total Savings
* If you change your behavior
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15. What’s an SREC?
• Your Photovoltaic Solar System will be creating
Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECS)
that your utility company will purchase back
from you.
* Our Federal Government mandates that a percentage
of their energy portfolio be from renewable energy.
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16. Progress Energy hates SRECS
* Utility companies paying you for your energy credits must
be like biting into a habanera with no water chaser.
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17. Then why do they pay you for your
SRECs?
• Answer: Because the government forces them to balance
their energy portfolio with renewable energy sources.
• North Carolina has a Renewable Energy & Efficiency Portfolio
Standard (REPS) that requires Progress Energy Carolinas to
have 0.02 percent of its 2010 retail sales come from solar
power.
.02%
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18. You almost feel bad for Progress
Energy
• Utility companies build plants to satisfy peak energy demand
• They produce an “always on” current of electricity to each
outlet in your house whether you need it or not
• Your PV system will not change the amount of energy that the
utility company must produce and have available to your
house, i.e. they don’t benefit directly by your PV energy
production.*
* However, if enough people install PV Systems, then
Progress energy won’t have to build another plant.
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19. Plug in your numbers
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Initial Cash Outlay $
Utility Company Rebate:
Rebate $
Tax $
Net Rebate [Calc]
Fed Tax Credit [ 30% ]
State Tax Credit [ 35% ]
Fed Tax on State Credit $ -
Maintenance $ - $ - $ - $ - $ (100) $ - $ - $ -
Yearly SREC revenue $ 254 $ 254 $ 254 $ 254 $ 254 $ 949 $ 992 $ 1,037
Yearly Production Savings $ 413 $ 427 $ 442 $ 458 $ 474 $ 491 $ 508 $ 525
Total Cash Flow [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc]
Accumulated Cash Flow [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc] [Calc]
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20. My numbers met my goals
• Payback period in years
• Return on investment %
• Internal Rate of Return
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21. Other benefits of the system had little
value to me, but might be important to you
Tons of CO2 Offset per What am I going to do,
year brag to my friends about
how I’m saving the
planet?
Added Value to Property I intend to die in the
house*
* If you don’t intend to die “under the panels,” than the US
Appraisal Journal indicates that you can add $20,000 to your
home’s value for every $1,000 saved in utility costs.
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22. One more side benefit from this assessment is
that it teaches you to change your behavior
Month Off Peak Utility Rates
March – September Before 10:00 am After 9:00 pm
October – February 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm After 9:00 pm
• Progress Energy requires that you “voluntarily” subscribe to their
residential service time of use program
• The utility specifies different rates for electricity usage throughout
the day, i.e. Peak and Off Peak Rates
• So you should perform your high electricity usage activities during off
peak hours since this will lower your electric bill!*
* You can enjoy this benefit today even if
you don’t install PV panels
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23. To benefit from off peak rates, you need to
change your behavior
• Identify high electricity usage appliances, e.g.
Laundry Washer/Dryer and Dishwasher
• Do your laundry on the weekends or on off peak
hours
• Set you dishwasher for 4 hour delay after you eat
dinner so that it runs after 9:00 pm.
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24. Step 3
CAREFULLY CHOOSE A QUALIFIED
PV INTEGRATOR
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25. Look for “signals” that the company is
reputable *
S i g n a l s
• I posted a comment to a company’s blog post and
received a response the same day.
• The company I choose has 120 employees
• The company I choose has installed 11,000 + panels in
both commercial and residential environments
* These guys are going to be putting holes in my roof.
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26. No Jacklegs allowed
• The employees arrived in company branded vehicles and
S i g n a l s
were wearing company branded shirts.
• Their savings worksheet puts the rebates in the proper year,
e.g. you don’t get the Federal Rebate until after your file
your taxes in the following year.
• The Company quotes multiple brands of panels.
• Some of the quotes include recognized brands that have no
history of financial distress.
* Jackleg: Southern expression for “Jack of all trades and
master of none.”
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27. More Signals
• Can they describe how they will protect your roof tiles?
S i g n a l s
• Will the installer be around to service their work in 10 years,
i.e. are they financially stable?
• Will they assign a project manager?
• Will they handle all of the paperwork with Progress Energy?
• Do they have many commercial and residential references?
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28. Contract Signed
If you get the right signals, you
can sign a contract
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29. A Happy Economist

30. Presentation Author
The contents of the presentation are sole
intellectual property of John Langlois and are not to
be distributed without prior written approval.
Sources for pictures
http://www.projectez.com
http://www.istockphoto.com
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31. Useful Links
• Sunsense Solar PV Program
https://www.progress-energy.com/florida/home/save-energy-money/energy-efficiency-
improvements/sunsense/solar-pv.page
• The PVWatts Solar Calculator
www.pvwatts.org
• DSIRE State Renewable Tax incentives
• DSIRE Federal Renewable Energy Tax Incentives
• Consumer Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy
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