Oregon Town Gets a Lot of Solar for a Little Money

The upfront cost has always been the biggest barrier to solar PV adoption, and one Oregon town has found an innovative way to help its citizens buy down that cost.

The city borrowed from the sewer account to offer no-interest loans of $9,000 each. The repayment schedule, over four years, is tied to residents' tax returns each spring, when they receive refunds of state and federal renewable energy tax credits.

All told, Lehman estimates the program will cost the city only $10,000 in lost interest over four years.

While the loan terms are short (4 years), the repayment plan is tied to the state and federal tax credit schedule, essentially allowing interested home and business owners the chance to finance solar directly with those credits, rather than having to put their own money up front.

The loan program spurred over 50 solar PV installations in 2010, in a town of just 16,500 residents.  The residents not only received discount financing, but the city helped aggregate the purchase of the solar panels to get participants a "group buy" discount.  Assuming a system size of 3 kilowatts and installed cost of $6.00 per Watt, the city's $10,000 investment got their residents approximately $1 million worth of new solar power.

The increase in solar installation activity had an effect even for those who didn't use the town's financing option:

Ken Abbott, a retired postal employee, didn't use the loan program but took advantage of the lower installation prices that resulted from the large number of buyers.

Pendelton's lesson to cities is that you don't need a lot of money to make it a lot easier to go solar.

This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's New Rules Project.

View:   It can pay to work with your local community to make solar a reality for lots of people

EcoSolargy Offering New Solar Loan Program

EcoSolargy Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based solar PV manufacturer and energy solution provider, has introduced the Same As Cash Solar Loan program.

This program provides contractors the ability to offer homeowners no-interest and no-money-down loans for their desired solar PV systems, the company explains.

SOURCE: EcoSolargy

Clean Power Sector Could Attract $2.3 Trillion by 2020

Private investments in clean power projects in G-20 countries could total $2.3 trillion by the end of the decade, according to a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. Massive energy demand and strong clean energy policies will drive investment to Asia.

However, by adopting such policies, every G-20 member has the opportunity to attract more private investment in clean power projects and compete more effectively for business in this emerging global industry, the report says.

The report examined projected private investment in solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, geothermal and marine energy projects. The underlying data for this report were compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report modeled three policy scenarios to determine future growth through 2020: business-as-usual (no change from current policies); Copenhagen (policies to implement the pledges made at the 2009 international climate negotiations in Copenhagen); and enhanced clean energy (maximized policies designed to stimulate increased investment and capacity additions).

The report found that G-20 members have the potential to gain an additional $546 billion in clean power project investments over the next decade compared to business-as-usual. Under the enhanced clean energy scenario, the projected $2.3 trillion investment in clean power projects would be equivalent to adding the entire gross domestic product of the U.K. to the global economy.

Over that same time span, total renewable energy capacity additions in the G-20 are projected to reach 1,180 GW - almost four times the amount of renewable energy capacity that exists today, the report adds.

Asia became the top regional destination for clean power finance this year, with China and India leading the way due to strong clean energy policies. By 2020, China, India, Japan and South Korea will account for approximately 40% of global clean power project investments.

Under all three scenarios, China maintains its global leadership position and has the potential to attract cumulative clean energy asset investments of $620 billion over the next decade. Due to its clean energy policies, India rockets up to third place by 2020 under all scenarios after being ranked 10th in 2009. India could realize a 763% increase in investment under the enhanced scenario, the largest of all G-20 members.

Europe was an early leader in the global clean energy economy, thanks to strong clean energy policies and targets. The report found investment in clean power projects in the European Union could total $705 billion over the next decade under the enhanced clean energy scenario. The U.K. and Germany - traditional clean energy powers in Europe -rank in the top five globally of attracted clean power project investments under all three scenarios.

The report also found that the U.S. is among those countries with the most to gain from passing strong clean energy policies. For example, the U.S. has the potential to attract $342 billion in clean power project investments over the next 10 years under the enhanced clean energy scenario. That would represent an additional $97 billion compared to attracted investment under business-as-usual, a 40% increase in investment. Only India and the U.K. have the potential to increase investments at a higher rate. 

The full report is available here.

SOURCE: The Pew Charitable Trusts


Views:   With this much investment going into solar and other renewable energies over the next 10 years ... it might be worth owning some solar energy stocks.

Ex-IM Bank Helps Finance US Solar Exports

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) has joined seven other U.S. government agencies in launching a coordinated effort to promote renewable energy and energy-efficiency exports under a project called the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative.

A top priority of Ex-Im Bank is to increase its support for renewable energy and energy-efficient exports by offering enhanced financing under its Environmental Exports Program. The bank says it can provide repayment terms up to 18 years for renewable energy projects, offer capitalization of interest during construction, and support local costs up to 30% of the U.S. scope of supply.

In addition, the bank provides streamlined financing for U.S. exporters of solar energy equipment for small solar-energy projects.

According to the Ex-Im Bank, the initiative is the country's first-ever federal government-coordinated effort to support renewable energy and energy-efficiency exports. Through the implementation of 23 interagency actions, the initiative will facilitate a significant increase of renewable energy and energy efficiency exports during the next five years, helping to meet the goals of the National Export Initiative and President Obama's challenge to make the U.S. the leading exporter of clean energy technologies.

SOURCE: Export-Import Bank of the U.S.

View:    While this doesn't help reduce the costs of the solar panels produced in the USA - long term financing should help increase the competitiveness of the US produced solar products internationally.