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EnviroKarma.org - Photovoltaics (PV) '...it's (NOT) hard to be Green' - what Kermit should have said

In the News

3/23/2009 - Several solar related Bills passed in NM Legislature this year...
hb-572 SOLAR ENERGY IMPROVEMENT SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS, enabling no-down, long term loans to be collected via property taxes.
hb-893 RESIDENTIAL SOLAR TECH IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS, similar but allows either Counties or cities to create tax Distrcts and create Bonds.
sb-237 RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX CREDIT, adds tax credits for corporate facilities for solar and geothermal

This area of the site is intended to be a 'Documentary' of my experience having photovoltaics installed. I wanted to get some information out there to answer some of the questions I know I had, and most likely lots of other people have as well.

How much does it cost?

There are some variables like the quality of the components, type of racking, and the cost of labor. Unless you are a Master electrician, familiar with PV codes, city codes, and the utility regulations, you probably don't want to do it yourself. Some installers will let you help, and if you don't slow them down too much, you might be able to save a little on the labor cost. The cost of racking varies between ground mount, ballast mount (no roof penetration), standoffs, or awnings. The majority of the cost is the panels themselves, and there is a wide range based on quality and efficiency. Top names are SunPower and Sanyo right now; with efficiency around 17%. Combined with a top quality inverter like SunPower, you probably get more for your money over the long haul. Ballpark cost for a 'top-shelf' total system including expert installation runs around $8.50-$9.00/watt. The 'average' home in NM could offset just about all their electricity with a 3 kW or 4kW system. I decided to install a 5kW system so I would have enough to power the house AND the electric car.

How can I afford it?

That's the hard part! Good news in NM is that some new laws that PASSED in 2009 will provide a mechanism for homeowners to obtain no-down, 20 year, low interest loans and repay them through the County Property Tax collection mechanism. The idea is to get monthly payments down to the point where the REC payment and monthly utility bill savings pretty much cover the payment. The system loan would be recorded as a lien on the Property, and stay with the property until paid off when the house is sold or re-financed and wrapped into a mortgage. So, it COULD get a lot easier for people who cannot pull together the cash up-front. Several Counties are setting the program up, and hope to have the system operational early in 2010.

How do you get paid back?

There are Federal tax credits, and many States now have State tax credits as well that may be applied to offset the initial installation costs. There are also a growing number of Utilities that will buy 'Renewable Engery Credits' (REC) based on your gross production, AND if you 'grid-tie' your system rather than use batteries, your system will spin your regular meter backward when you are producing more than you are using. The Federal tax credit (2008) is currently 30% of the installation cast, capped at $2000, the NM state tax credit is 30% capped at $9000. If you want to maximize tax credits, this means you might want to consider a total system cost around $35-40k. This translates into a 4kW or maybe 5kW system depending on your design and installers. I think that the cap has been lifted for 2009, but have not verified that....

I really wanted to go for a 5kW system to maxmize the tax credit,and have a good chance of offsetting ALL of my typical electric demands... at least until I finish the electric car! A 5kW system in NM can be expected to generate around 800 kWhr/month or more, which is about how much the 'average' family of four in a fairly large home uses. The local utility in Santa Fe, PNM, has a REC purchase plan which pays $.13/kWhr generated, plus spins the meter backward at whatever the current cost is, which is about $.09/kWhr (2008). So, for a 5kW system in NM, you can expect to make/save about $180/month, which will go up at the cost of power rises!

The PNM billing system now can show negative (surplus) readings monthly, AND the total credit if applicable when you have produced more than you use. If and when you do 'cash out' by disconnecting or selling your home, you are paid at a low rate; not the normal use rate. So, you are best served to size your PV system to yeild no more than you expect to use on an annual basis. In my case I may produce a surplus in the summer, but then use a little more in the winter which will use up my net credit.... I will also probably not have surplus after getting my electric car up and running since it will use probably 100 - 200 kWhr per month depending on how much I drive it.

So, in working out the financial returns you can see that while it is not a huge money maker, it will 'pay for itself' in about 12 years, and is similar to buying a CD or 10-year Bond with an annual return of around 4%, except that it pays out a monthly dividend with the REC purchase! If electric rates go way up, the effective return goes up, and it gets to be a pretty sweet deal after the 12 year mark. Recent news from Real Estate appraisals show that the investment reflects almost 1:1 on adding to a home's value in resale, and you COULD move the system if a potential buyer didn't want it; they would be silly not to though!

I am convinced that investing in PV is a great move if you have a chunk of cash you want to put in a 'safe' investment and lower your monthly bills in addition to feeling really good about taking personal action to reduce your carbon footprint. It's a perfect vehicle for people that are approaching retirement and moving money from aggresive stocks want reduced financial risk, monthly 'dividends', and lower monthly expenses.

Is is allowed in your neighborhood??

In New Mexico, the short answer is 'yes'. Rules differ in other States, but in 2007-8 legislative session NM laws governing the installation of Solar Collectors were ammended (and stregthened) to invalidate any restrictions, except in historic districts. The actual text of HB611 pretty clearly invalidates any county, city, neighborhood, homeowners association prohibiting Solar Collector installations. More information on your Solar Rights is also available in a brochure.

Who should you have do your install?

Experts! I thought about trying to round up all the pieces myself, and hiring an electrician for the tricky parts. But after seeing all the code requirements, and not wanting to screw up the expensive equipment, I went looking for the most experienced outfit I could find. There are a handful of installers in Santa Fe - Albuquerque area that I am sure are just fine, but I decided to go with the folks at 'Positive Energy' based on good references and the number of installations they have done all over NM. I am very happy with their work, and would highly recommend them to anyone. In fact I am SO happy, that I am willing to give tours of my house (by appointment) and show off their work, and I wrote them a letter of recommendation.

How much power do you actually generate?

I will post the monthly gross kWhr as they come in from PNM... My 5kW (24*210 watt SunPower panels) system produces around 25-30 kWhr/day depending on afternoon clouds. So far this is a surplus over my average monthly summer electric use which is around 20 kWhr/day for the house. I use a little more in the winter because of one room on electric heat, and the hot tub heater which hardly runs in the summer. Now I have the electric car running and drawing about 5 or 6 extra kWhr per day in the summer as I am driving it about 20 miles per day. Just about zero net use annual average, which is what I was hoping for!

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