Solarflow Energy. January 11, 2011

Transcription

1 Solarflow Energy Presentation to RDF Board January 11, 2011 Seward Co-op Installation Minneapolis, MN 32.2 kw

2 Goals of the RDF-funded project To demonstrate the commercial viability of providing solar-generated electricity to homes and small businesses based on a leasing model In addition, the project will provide distributed residential solar energy through rooftop-mounted photovoltaic solar panels The importance of the project is to overcome pricing and capitalization barriers in the rooftop solar market

3 Completed Solar Installations: 280 KW Time-lapse video of a residential solar installation Time-lapse video of a business solar installation

4 Solar leasing Pilot Project Installations Address: Size kw: 3xxx Evergreen Lane, Plymouth, MN xxx Birchcrest Drive, Edina, MN xxx Grantham Street, St. Paul, MN xxx E 86th Street, Bloomington, MN xxx E 25th Street, Minneapolis, MN xxx Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN xxxx Jasper Lane, Eden Prairie, MN xxx Blaisdell Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN xxx E Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN xxx 23rd Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN xxx Lincoln Avenue, St. Paul, MN xxx 2nd Avenue N, Minneapolis, MN xxxx 88th Place, Maple Grove, MN xx Vincent Avenue N, Minneapolis, MN xx Terrace Drive, Roseville, MN xxx Thomas Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN xxx W Hwy 36, Roseville, MN xxx 15th Street N, Oakdale, MN xxx B Washington Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN xxx S 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN xxx Klien Drive, Waconia, MN xxx W 23rd Street, St. Louis Park, MN xxx Delano Way, Stillwater, MN xxx 32 nd Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN xxx Washburn Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN Average residential installation size 4.07 KW Average commercial installation size KW

5 Budget and Schedule The contracted budget was $2,460,429 Actual cost was $2,266,092, which is equivalent to a cost of $8.09 per watt installed and managed under leasing Clearly, the costs were different for residential vs. commercial installations, and the above average cost also includes the overhead of managing a leasing program Project schedule: there was a significant delay to the start of the installation phase, but once the installations started, they were completed in less than the 14 months that were contractually allocated (the initial delay in the start of the installation phase was due to the difficulty in finding matching private funds to complement the RDF funding an unavoidable reality of the post financial crisis in October 2008)

6 Findings on price sensitivity COMMERCIAL PRICING: Pricing Model A Solar lease pricing matches electricity costs for the first five years, and subsequently the price is fixed for the remaining 13 years of the lease, presumably offering savings to the customers as electricity rises with inflation Pricing Model B Solar leasing prices offered at 20% below electricity prices, but subject to upward revisions no greater than conventional electricity price increases, thus offering 20% savings at all times during the lease RESIDENTIAL PRICING: single pricing model approximately equal to the current cost of electricity, with no price increases, thus providing ever increasing savings over the 15 year lease.

7 Process Analysis and Technology Our proprietary Solar Asset Lifecycle Management System, Solarflow SM, minimizes cost and increases the quality of delivery and maintenance Using the latest technology, we are able to monitor the real-time output of each installation ensuring quality performance

8 Solar Electricity Production Your Lifetime Production is Equivalent to 105 Trees Planted 461 Gallons of Gasoline Saved

9 Project Benefits Demonstration of the viability of solar-as-aservice : positive feedback provided by the Customer Survey Delivery of 280KW of generating capacity COMPLETED! Green job generation Six full time positions have been created, plus anywhere between two to six additional hourly positions for installations Generation of clean electricity for a minimum of 25 years. During 2010, over 91.1 MWhof solar electricity. Forecasted production: 355 MWh/yr starting in 2011.

10 Lessons Learned From the Solar Leasing Pilot Project The leasing proposition is VERY desirable to consumers and business owners the pricing however needs to compete with electricity costs Process controls for delivery and procurement are key to cost optimization and predictability and they are NOT DIFFICULT to achieve, since the construction projects are small and low risk Demand Charges are a major disadvantage for solar small businesses Web-monitoring is key for solar visibility and acceptance Electrical bills after a solar installation become confusing to customers & difficult to establish the savings Transitioning Xcel customers to solar appropriate billing has been challenging and processes are improving

11 Moving forward: MN Solar Incentives Xcel Energy Solar Rewards Program MN-made rebate program Section 1603 grant-in-lieu of Investment Tax Credit PACE Financing (Property Assessed Clean Energy) 100% exemption from real property taxes 100% exemption from MN sales taxes

12 What now? What is the solar economic potential in MN? Net Generation (MWh/mo) Total 4,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 Coal 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 Renewable 500,000 0 Solar

13 Solar future - More context According to the NREL, Minneapolis has the 4 th highest potential of annual rooftop solar power generation of any city in the United States 1 Solar rooftop panels could account for 10% of the state s energy generation if 25% of Minnesota s single family houses adopted the technology 1 Sources: 1 GSP Consulting and the 2 MN Office of Energy Security

14 Current status of Solar Leasing; not allowed by current Xcel Energy regulations. Recommendation: work with Xcel Energy to find a way to continue solar leasing in Minnesota Thank you