Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
ma...@pentlarge.org
Hi All who have expressed an interest in getting solar panels up on our church roof:
I sent out a Doodle Poll, and got enough results back to make a decision on dates (apologies to those we'll miss). We'll meet
Friday, June 19 at 7:00 to 8:30 at UUCW to see what questions we need answers to, and to get a sense of options available.
And we'll meet again
Friday, June 28 at 7:00 to 8:30 at UUCW to set plans in motion, eg set dates to go before the board, have reps from the companies speak to us, have an info meeting for all interested, begin installation(?)
Any questions, reply or call me
Mara Pentlarge
Margaret Gifford
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2015 22:00:46 -0400
Subject: Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
From: ma...@pentlarge.org
To: ma...@pentlarge.org; lance...@charter.net; mcbs...@yahoo.com; arpa...@charter.net
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ma...@pentlarge.org
Thanks, Peg, for pointing out my error.
The second meeting of the Solar Panel Working Group will be
SUNDAY, June 28, 7 - 8:30 ( not Friday June 28, which was a mistake)
PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOU'LL BE THERE.
Thanks, Mara
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: RE: Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
From: "Margaret Gifford" <mhgi...@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, June 17, 2015 7:16 am
To: "ma...@pentlarge.org" <ma...@pentlarge.org>
"Lance McKee" <lance...@charter.net>
"Kim McCoy" <mcbs...@yahoo.com>
"aaron payson" <arpa...@charter.net>
Cc: "Carlton Davenport" <gmi...@verizon.net>
"wsha...@wshancock.com" <wsha...@wshancock.com>
"janet....@verizon.net" <janet....@verizon.net>
"f...@fognet.com" <f...@fognet.com>
"Judy Savage" <kokoma...@gmail.com>
"office" <off...@uucworcester.org>
"uucwgr...@googlegroups.com" <uucwgr...@googlegroups.com>
"bartlet...@gmail.com" <bartlet...@gmail.com>
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> Hi Mara,
> Did you mean June 26??
> Peg
>
Aaron Payson
Sent from my iPhone
I’m away on business, so we won’t be at the meeting tonight, but I plan to attend on June 26.Lance
On Jun 17, 2015, at 6:28 AM, Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester <off...@uucworcester.net> wrote:Mara,
I have scheduled these two meetings in the Lounge at the requested time. I assume you mean June 26, as that is the next Friday evening after the 17th.
Jen
Jennifer Landry, Office Administrator
Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
90 Holden Street
Worcester, MA 01606
Office: 508-853-1942
Office Hours: M, T, W, 9 am – 3 pm; Th 9 am – 2 pm
From: ma...@pentlarge.org [mailto:ma...@pentlarge.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 10:01 PM
To: mp; lance...@charter.net; Kim McCoy; Rev
Cc: GMIpres; wsha...@wshancock.com; janet....@verizon.net; f...@fognet.com; jsav; uucw; uucwgr...@googlegroups.com; bartlet...@gmail.com
Subject: Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
Hi All who have expressed an interest in getting solar panels up on our church roof:
Lance McKee
Mara,
I have scheduled these two meetings in the Lounge at the requested time. I assume you mean June 26, as that is the next Friday evening after the 17th.
Jen
Jennifer Landry, Office Administrator
Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
90 Holden Street
Worcester, MA 01606
Office: 508-853-1942
Office Hours: M, T, W, 9 am – 3 pm; Th 9 am – 2 pm
From: ma...@pentlarge.org [mailto:ma...@pentlarge.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 10:01 PM
To: mp; lance...@charter.net; Kim McCoy; Rev
Cc: GMIpres; wsha...@wshancock.com; janet....@verizon.net; f...@fognet.com; jsav; uucw; uucwgr...@googlegroups.com; bartlet...@gmail.com
Subject: Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
Hi All who have expressed an interest in getting solar panels up on our church roof:
Lance McKee
Mara,
I have scheduled these two meetings in the Lounge at the requested time. I assume you mean June 26, as that is the next Friday evening after the 17th.
Jen
Jennifer Landry, Office Administrator
Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
90 Holden Street
Worcester, MA 01606
Office: 508-853-1942
Office Hours: M, T, W, 9 am – 3 pm; Th 9 am – 2 pm
From: ma...@pentlarge.org [mailto:ma...@pentlarge.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 10:01 PM
To: mp; lance...@charter.net; Kim McCoy; Rev
Cc: GMIpres; wsha...@wshancock.com; janet....@verizon.net; f...@fognet.com; jsav; uucw; uucwgr...@googlegroups.com; bartlet...@gmail.com
Subject: Solar panels: 2 meetings - 6/19 & 6/28
Hi All who have expressed an interest in getting solar panels up on our church roof:
ma...@pentlarge.org
Hi All -
At the meeting tonight were Mara, Kim McCoy, Lance McKee, Peg Gifford, and Art Shea.
Mara talked to Yeloha and Sunbug, and asked these questions.
QUESTIONS to YELOHA
*How long will the agreement/contract go for? What happens at the end of that time?
It goes for 20 years, then they remove the panels, OR we can renew at that time or buy the panels from them any time after 6 years, or upgrade.
*What if Yeloha goes out of business?
Nothing changes. They will set up an account for our project with money for repairs...[she mentioned investors and tax equity funds... perhaps that means something to you? it didn't to me]
*What if we want to expand the building up another floor above the classroom wing, if there are panels on that flat roof?
Their proposal calls for 40 panels on the flat roof. They can remove and re-install the panels as we expand, for $50 per panel, so the presence of the panels would ad $2000 to the cost of that expansion.
*Can we do it if we only have panels on Fellowship Hall?
Yes, but more is better.
*Can we get panels on the east & west facing Sanctuary roof?
She couldn't say. If we go forward with Yeloha they'll come out and do a more involved roof analysis, and they could say at that time.
* Will maintenance costs always be $0, or we incur maintenance costs as the years go by?
Our maintenance costs will always be $0. The inverters need to be replaced every 5 - 10 years, but that cost is set aside in their account for our project.
*If the 75% (of electricity we generate with our panels) can't get sold to others, then what?
That's their responsibility. They have a waiting list, and all the panels are sold in 2 to 3 days. We can reserve 25% or more for church members to buy.
*How are you insured? Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes sometimes happen here. Who's liable for broken panels or damage to the roof? What about lots of snow?
They have a million dollar policy per project.
*Panels will add weight to the roof. Is the roof strong enough (structural integrity)?
This will be determined at the roof analysis visit.
*Do any branches need to come down?
Probably the ones that shade the east corner of the roof of Fellowship Hall.
She said it will take up to 6 months from when we say "go", for the project to be done; up to 5 1/2 months of arranging, and 2 weeks for installation.
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QUESTIONS to SUNBUG:
Sunbug is the company that will sell the panels to us for $66,000 including installation.
* Can we get panels on the east & west facing Sanctuary roof?
Yes, but the production will go down by a lot. Payback will be longer - maybe 15 years.
*How are you insured? Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes sometimes happen here. Who's liable for broken panels or damage to the roof? What about lots of snow?
Workmanship is guaranteed for 5 years, but WE would be the ones who'd need to get the insurance on our new panels. (Last winter they had very few problems from snow, and it was a bad winter for snow.)
*Panels will add weight to the roof. Is the roof strong enough (structural integrity)?
They would do a structural analysis with an engineer before the final decision.
*Do any branches need to come down?
It would be worthwhile to take some branches down.
*What if Sunbug goes out of business?
There's a 5 year warranty.
And, Pam, I have some more questions, not from the meeting.
*What's the current situation with financing?
They no longer have anyone willing to do a PPA - Power Purchase Agreement - on a project as small as ours. The financers want bigger arrays.
*If we had you put angled panels up on the flat roof over the classroom wing, would that make investment more appealing?
Still not big enough.
*What if I (Mara) wanted to invest $10,000 in our solar panels? Could I do that?
If one person wanted to invest the whole $66,000, that could work, but if several people are investing then we need to draw up an LLC and file paper work every year and manage and divide the returns. We would need an attorney and an accountant to do this. (She knows a church on the Cape who pulled this all together from their membership.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Art had pursued getting panels on his house with Sungevity, and doesn't trust them because they never mentioned the RECs - Renewable Energy Credits - which are available in Mass for folks who put solar panels on their houses. You use them to reduce your taxes.
We generated the following questions to Yeloha:
*If we buy the panels in 6 years, how much will they cost? Will we get the RECs for the remaining 4 years? (They only last 10 years.)
*If we sell the building within 20 years, and the new owners don't want to continue this arrangement, what's the penalty to the new owner?
*Can the inverter be shielded for the electromagnetic fields? (Lance and Art know a lot about this.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greg Aldrich met someone who seems to know a lot about solar companies, and sent the email below. Mara will call Jeff.
Mara, Kim, John and Aaron,
Here is the information I promised to Mara and Kim regarding a Solar Consultant. Jeff seem to know the industry well and also works with churches and nonprofits probono. Wendy and I met him while staying at Northey Street House B & B (which is owned by his wife, Flora Tonthat - an wonderful place to stay in Salem MA).
Jeff Cohen
Solar Coach
Safe Solar & Energy Advisers
316 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970
978.594.5835 (O)
978.587.1443 (C)
All the best,
Greg Aldrich
Mara
Odell, John W.
Resending as Google Groups only takes files up to 8MB. Newer spreadsheet (attached) removes a number of the extraneous columns for our purposes.
John
Good afternoon,
So sorry I could not make the meeting yesterday – puppy emergency. Thanks Mara for so quickly putting out such a good summary.
I went to the MACEC website and pulled together a spreadsheet on installations that have occurred in National Grid territory that are roughly the size we are contemplating (10kW – 27 kW - see attached). I further refined by dropping 1-4 residential applications (which mostly would have dropped anyway given the kW size restriction) and by year (2013 – 2015). If you sort by owner, you quickly see the main players. For those entities that decided to purchase and own directly, it appears that Real Goods Solar (RGS Energy) was the primary installer for 4 of the 15, by far the most. They also were quite competitive on price. They are BBB rated as A+, however their stock price is quite weak and volatile (under $3,00 a share, though many of their competitors are in the same boat). Still, they very recently issued ~$5M in shares - http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rgs-energy-prices-5-million-123000943.html. They, at least, seem to be optimistic on their own growth. If we are seriously considering dipping into investments to finance, I recommend getting a quote from them too.
I also checked in with National Grid to see if/when they plan on implementing a rate tariff for solar that would capture the electric demand value of west facing solar panels. I did not get a firm answer (shocking! ;), but it’s clear they are looking into it. Given my previous experience with them on similar internal changes I think it could be up to a couple of years before they act (perhaps soon after the federal tax credits are scheduled to expire at the end of 2016). Reading the tea leaves, I’m cautiously optimistic they will have a tariff that will address this, but it may be a while and who knows if it will help our financials enough to justify installing west facing panels.
John
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