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solar rooftops

Innovations in Solar Finance For Homeowners & Installers

by Aisha Abdelhamid May 1, 2015

Prioritizing ease-of-use for home solar installers, and long-term value for homeowners, a new partnership between Sungage Financial and SMA America is offering innovations in home solar finance.

Sungage Financial, a leading residential solar finance platform, is making it easier for homeowners to realize the financial benefits of solar ownership while saving on energy costs at the same time. Offering convenient, flexible repayment terms, the Sungage® Solar Loan does not require a down payment.

The new partnership pairs Sungage’s simple-to-use home solar finance platform with SMA, the global market leader for residential solar inverters. With a broad product portfolio, SMA offers a compatible inverter for all solar PV system sizes and for every type of solar module on the market.

May 1, 2015 0 comment

cps energy offering free solar rooftop installation © cps energy

Going Solar Rooftop Solar

Texas CPS Energy Installing Free Solar Rooftop Panels

by Aisha Abdelhamid April 3, 2015

written by Aisha Abdelhamid

Currently working on contracting with a third party to install solar panels, free of charge to its customers, CPS Energy is gearing up for its new “Rent the Roof” solar program in San Antonio, Texas. The pilot program, set to launch in mid-2015, is still in the request-for-proposals (RFP) phase, evaluating contractor proposals for installing the solar rooftop panels.

CPS Energy offering free solar rooftop installation. © CPS Energy.

CPS Energy Also Offers Enough Rent “To Get People Interested”

Raiford Smith, vice president of corporate development and planning at CPS Energy, speaking to KSAT12 Reporter Jenna Hiller, explained, “We have this purchase power agreement where essentially we will contract with a third party to install solar panels, essentially at no charge to the customer.”

Around 300-400 homes are expected to be signed up for the one megawatt solar energy generation pilot program. San Antonio resident Oscar Samano told Hiller that he would sign up for the CPS Energy program, “if he could avoid the roughly $30,000 cost of installing panels on his own.” Samano related, “I have a large awning and a large roof. It’s a three-bedroom house.” He continued, “We don’t have room for the wind turbines, so solar panels would be the best project.”

In exchange for a contract with CPS Energy to buy the output for the 15-year expected lifetime of solar panels, homeowners will receive free installation, and a monthly rent payment in the form of a credit on their CPS Energy bill. Although it has not yet been determined how much “rent payment” customers will receive, the utility company has said “it would be enough to get people interested.”

Planned Growth to 50MW Community Rooftop Solar

Since 2007, reports CPS Energy, just over 20MW solar generation has already been installed on San Antonio home and business rooftops. “We’re excited about the prospect of increasing the amount of rooftop solar in our service territory by making it available to more customers.” said Cris Eugster, executive vice president and chief generation and strategy officer. If successful, the 1MW community rooftop pilot program will be expanded to 25 or even 50 MW over the next few years.

Anita Ledbetter, interim executive director of Solar San Antonio and executive director of Build San Antonio Green said, “This program has the potential to bring solar power to the rooftops of people who couldn’t afford it before.” Ledbetter continued, “CPS Energy is our utility. It’s owned by us, the people of San Antonio. And the idea of our utility putting solar on our people’s rooftops, instead of building another centralized power plant – it’s a very exciting thing, and Solar San Antonio is very supportive.”

CPS Energy distributed rooftop solar program. © CPS Energy.

April 3, 2015 0 comment

solar finance program now offered by Mitsubishi © Mitsubishi electric US

Going Solar Rooftop Solar Solar $

Solar Finance Now Offered by Mitsubishi Electric US

by Aisha Abdelhamid March 30, 2015

written by Aisha Abdelhamid

Offering an alternative to solar leasing programs, the Photovoltaic Division of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. has introduced a new consumer finance program. The new finance program for solar pv system ownership is being offered to qualified homeowners through Mitsubishi’s authorized solar contractors.

Gina Heng, vice president and general manager of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc.’s Photovoltaic Division, said in a recent statement, “Consumers who wish to install Mitsubishi Electric state-of-the-art photovoltaic modules now have the ability to finance their purchase.”

Solar finance program now offered by Mitsubishi. © Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi’s Solar Energy Technology

Mitsubishi Electric is one of the most established solar providers in the industry, with 50 locations throughout North America, and approximately 3,600 employees. In addition to solar photovoltaic modules, Mitsubishi Electric US group companies’ principal businesses include a wide variety of electronic and electrical products. Some of these products include semiconductor devices, automotive electrical components, factory automation products, electric utility products, heating and cooling products, elevators and escalators, and large-scale video displays for stadiums and arenas.

Designing, engineering, and manufacturing high quality solar panels, Mitsubishi has over 40 years of experience developing solar energy technology, and over 90 years of electronics manufacturing expertise. Mitsubishi also offers a 25-year limited warranty to all residential, commercial, and government customers, ensuring an optimum return on investment.

An Innovative Finance Program with Flexibility

Mitsubishi Electric US launched the innovative consumer solar finance program for its contractors to help boost their sales. Heng pointed out the advantage of the new program, saying, “our contractors can now offer more financial flexibility to their residential clientele.”

The new Mitsubishi program offers consumer finance for solar pv systems through a leading provider of residential solar finance. According to the Mitsubishi statement, additional advantages for the homeowners include lower monthly payments than leasing, and financing features not available through many other lenders. Consumers will also know in real-time if their loan is approved, through advanced consumer credit underwriting. Qualified borrowers may apply to finance their solar pv system for amounts up to $60,000.

Mitsubishi Electric solar panels and contractors. © Mitsubishi

Contractor Training Provided by Mitsubishi

“In order for contractors to fully leverage this new program,” said Mitsubishi PV Division Vice President Heng, “we want to ensure that they understand how it works and how it can benefit both them and their customers.”

To accomplish the goal of acquainting contractors with the new solar pv finance program, Mitsubishi Electric is currently holding training sessions. Mitsubishi is encouraging contractors to visit their website to learn more about the program, and to register for a training session. All authorized Mitsubishi Electric solar contractors are invited to attend, and registration is now open.

March 30, 2015 0 comment

Going Solar Other Renewable Energy Rooftop Solar Solar Records

SolarCity Hits Record 4GWh/Day Energy Generation

by Aisha Abdelhamid March 23, 2015

written by Aisha Abdelhamid

Barely one year after breaking previous solar energy generation records, SolarCity is again hitting new highs. Recently exceeding 4GWh of solar electricity produced in one day, SolarCity is triumphant. “The best part?” asks SolarCity, “Our customers didn’t have to burn anything, use a drop of water, or emit an ounce of carbon dioxide to produce this power. This is what the future looks like.”

screenshot from homepage gallery © solarcity

4GWh is the same as 4,000 megawatt-hours (MWh), or 4,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). SolarCity reports that the average U.S. home uses around 12,069 kWh of electricity per year. This works out to an average of 33 kWh per day. Now put that 33 kWh on a graph beside 4 million kWh in one day, and you can really feel the triumph beaming from SolarCity headquarters these days.

SolarCity – “Transforming the Way Americans Use Energy”

Founded in 2006, SolarCity® (NASDAQ: SCTY) has tens of thousands of customers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Washington D.C. “Transforming the way Americans use energy,” SolarCity lives up to its motto, currently providing “one out of every four new solar electricity systems nationwide.”

Revolutionizing utility choices across the nation, SolarCity has grown to become America’s largest solar energy provider. Offering clean, renewable energy to homeowners, businesses, schools, non-profits, and government organizations, SolarCity makes the transition simple for its customers, guaranteeing the electricity production of its solar energy systems. Installing systems to the highest engineering standards, customers receive a cleaner, more affordable alternative to burning fossil fuels, such as natural gas, coal, or oil.

With one of the most experienced clean energy project design and installation teams in the world, SolarCity performs the entire process, from permitting through installation. A SolarCity website statement points out, “We are the only company that offers integrated sales, financing, design, installation, monitoring and efficiency services from a single source, without requiring the services of multiple third-parties.” Project management and performance monitoring systems scale to support millions of users, according to SolarCity, and provide customers with a real-time view of their net energy consumption, as well as their carbon footprint.

Coming to a Wal-Mart Near You

Along with tens of thousands of homeowners, SolarCity also has commercial solar energy systems installed on more than 400 schools, including Stanford University. Government agencies are among the company’s clients as well, such as the U.S. Armed Forces, and Department of Homeland Security. Well-known corporate clients include eBay, HP, Intel, Walgreens and Wal-Mart.

wal-mart project - screenshot from solarcity.com

Screenshot of Wal-Mart project from SolarCity.com

SolarCity has 190 Wal-Mart stores already installed or underway in Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, and New York. Website statements report that the solar energy systems are saving from 5-30 percent of each store’s electricity costs, and are responsible for an annual reduction of 106,244,231 pounds of CO2.

SolarCity Records in the Making

SolarCity’s stated mission is to “accelerate the mass adoption of clean energy.” With 4GWh of solar energy generation a day, this is clearly already happening. Now the next record SolarCity is aiming to hit is its one millionth customer. And with the recent news that SolarCity has teamed up with DIRECTV, as well as with Google, this record is clearly already in the making, too.

4GWh Day Solar Energy Generation. Screenshot from SolarCity.com

March 23, 2015 0 comment