1 year Extension of TAX INCENTIVES for Solar!

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/senate-passes-extension-of-1603-tax-grant-program/

This brightens the outlook for the whole solar industry. Santa's gift to you is PV and Hot Water, he doesn't like wind as much.....



This tax benefit is a simple 30% of the project cost, paid within 60 days of project completion, which in most cases is actually better than waiting for a tax credit. It was renewed for only 1 year, which will probably make next October/November/December another 'boom time' with increased costs.

Although we are not tax advisers, we suggest that business owners seriously talk with their advisers about the possibility of "immediate recovery" of PV expenses. In other words, if you know that you are doing PV, you know that your estimated tax burden will be that much less, and in theory you could pay less on the estimated taxes during the year.

2 catches with that approach--You then must make sure you get the PV into place and operational within your tax year, don't wait until the last minute. The end of the year typically see's huge increase in demand for solar since everyone has procrastinated. These supply/demand imbalances cause pricing to creep up into the year end. Full on product availability may make it impossible to complete the project in the required timeframe.

SUPER BONUS! They also doubled the "Bonus Depreciation" which was 50%, and is now 100%. You get to instantly depreciate money that you never paid in the first place.

Sounds too good to be true? Well let's put it this way, the Government is trying very hard to promote solar, and the incentives make it a no-brainer investment. In most cases we can do a free facility analysis and cost and savings estimate.

Enphase Microinverter System Demo

Please enjoy following video.

http://www.enphaseenergy.com/products/moreinfo/howitworks.cfm

How to read Net Energy Meter Display

For PV Customers, please check on the below file showing "How to read the Net Energy Meter Display."

Feed In Tariff, Sell Power to HECO

Hawaii’s new feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic and other renewable energy systems became fully effective Wednesday, Nov. 24, when Maui County and the island of Hawaii joined Oahu in accepting applications.

The payment rates for producers of solar PV electricity and concentrating solar power vary depending on several factors, including system size, and range from 18.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for larger PV systems to as much as 33.1 cents for smaller concentrating solar power systems. Rates also change depending on the applicant’s use of a state tax credit.

Rates are fixed for contract terms of 20 years. Combined with Hawaii’s personal income tax credit and a federal tax credit available for solar energy installations, the feed-in tariff can make solar electricity an attractive option for many homeowners and small-business owners with ample solar resources.

A new website will manage and accept applications for the Hawaiian Electric utilities’ feed-in tariff program, which is designed to encourage the addition of more renewable energy projects in Hawaii.

“The program offers pre-established rates and standardized contract terms, which will provide an easy way for individuals, businesses, governmental entities and other developers to sell renewable energy to Hawaiian Electric,” the company said in a news release. Hawaiian Electric Co. is the parent company of Hawaii Electric Light Co. and Maui Electric Co.; together, the utilities serve about 95 percent of the state’s residents.

“To break our dependence on imported oil, our state is going to need more sources of clean energy, both large and small. This program will help make that possible,” said Robbie Alm, Hawaiian Electric’s executive vice president, in the news release.

All applications for the program must be submitted through the new website, which can be found at www.hecofitio.com. The site is operated and maintained by Accion Group, an independent third-party observer that oversees the feed-in tariff applications on behalf of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

The website began accepting applications for projects on Oahu on Nov. 17. Applications for projects on Hawaii Island and Maui County were accepted beginning Nov. 24.

As approved by the utilities commission, the program will accept up to 60 megawatts of feed-in tariff projects on Oahu, 10 megawatts on the island of Hawaii and 10 megawatts in Maui County. Qualifying renewable technologies include photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, on-shore wind and in-line hydropower.

Under the tariff program, Tier 1 solar PV and CSP systems are considered to be those up to 20 kilowatts (AC) of production capacity on all islands. The Tier 1 payment rate for solar PV systems is 21.8 cents per kilowatt-hour, based on use of the 35 percent state income tax credit. For Tier 2 PV systems, greater than 20 kilowatts and up to 500 kilowatts, the rate is 18.9 cents per kwh. For Tier 1 concentrating solar power systems, the rate is 26.9 cents per kwh, and for Tier 2 CSP systems, 25.4 cents per kwh.

Rates are higher for electricity sellers electing a refundable state income-tax credit provision.

The program is open to both residential and business customers until the capacity caps are fulfilled.

Hawaiian Electric Co. said questions about the feed-in tariff can be emailed to FIT@HECO.COM. More information about the program and the Hawaiian Electric utilities’ efforts to develop more renewable energy resources can be found at
www.heco.com

Details about the feed-in tariff rates and other solar incentives offered in Hawaii are also available at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, at http://www.dsireusa.org/.

Brand New Customer Just Commissioned

This is the microinverter system, very cool.

The other system type is the central inverter, usually the Sunnyboy which is THEE name brand from Germany, over a million sold. Trickier to implement, and not appropriate for some roofs, but a solid performer, that we can handle. Once installed, they are system and troublefree.

The NETL Smart Grid Implementation Strategy

The NETL Smart Grid Implementation Strategy

Interesting articles.

http://www.netl.doe.gov/smartgrid/

Hot Water Maintenance

Please click the useful link for "How to flush a solar system".

A Happy Customer sent us recent HECO bill

Customer completed PV installation in June 2010.

New Hawaii Energy Program " Interest Buy Down'

Hawaii Energy introduced new program called "Interest buy down'. They will pay you the interest portion when you buy Solar Water Heating System through any financing program.

This is effectively no interest loan up to 5 years. We are also working with First Hawaiian Bank. Please see the ad below.


(click for larger view)

Testimonials

“Our 16 panels and micro inverters have dropped our electricity bill by $250 a month. We have a 7500 square foot house and our goal is to get our bill down to zero. We will definitely use Pacific Energy again to expand our system. The tax credit process was simple and we can track how much electricity we produce. This investment has been worth it. Energy costs are only going to keep going up and it will take us around five years to recoup what we paid for our system. You can’t get that kind of return anywhere else.”

Mark Thompson, Waialua

“Our system has produced 6000kWh since May 2008. That’s around18kWh a day with 16 panels. I am very impressed with Pacific Energy and appreciate their service. Every time something needed to be done, they were here. The installation was also very fast. We now only pay the HECO service charge and generate all of our own electricity.”

John Burke, Waianae

“Pacific Energy is a great company to work with. The quality is excellent and the installers were very professional. We have 20 panels with micro inverters. Our bill was previously $160-180 and now we only pay the $18 service charge and have 113kWh of credit.”

Glenn Skedeleski, Royal Kunia

Solar Financing Rate Going Up! Don't Delay!

We have been recommending to our clients to not dally when it comes to the decision of when to do solar. It is clear that some of the utility and Government sponsorship is already going away. Now even the best program for financing is tightening its belt, as the cost of oil creeps upward yet again. Right now, solar is a spectacular investment with a very high annual rate of return, far higher than you could expect with any traditional investment like mutual funds, 401K, bank CD’s.

For those waiting to see if this investment “gets even better” we advise that we think this is as good as it gets for many many years. Panel prices on PV are creeping up, except for the low grade foreign brands which don’t have a long track record.

Nice Bill Reduction!

Pool Solar

Pools use a lot of energy on just the pumping systems necessary to keep them clean and sanitary. But heating systems for pools, like heat pumps, gas heaters, or god forbid electric resistance heating use A LOT of energy and money!

Pool solar can replace or complement those systems. With Pool Solar, you can more useful months out of the year, on the investment that is called "Your Pool". Why let it sit there through winter, or find it not as relaxing as it should be.

Get a free estimate on Pool Solar so you can balanced the costs and rewards, you will like it.

Microinverter Webpage Reporting

The Micro-inverter System has shown itself to be very reliable, and have some very useful reports that you can get from any computer in the world. They put your real time energy production on the web, and you can password protect that if you don't want noisy neighbors who are jealous of your free electricity, looking at it.

Potential Clipping (aka Pegging) a Microinverter Output

Modeling this is tough, but an Engineer with a Masters from the University of Michigan, I did enough calculations to simply convince myself....don't worry about the "Clip"

Annual Rate of Return

One of the safest places to invest is in money market funds, or just an FDIC insured bank.

Stocks and Bonds are sketchy, they can plummet as fast as people can click a mouse, and High Frequency Trading Robots can run for the exits faster than lemmings over a cliff.

From Bankrate the following:

The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts rose to 0.20 percent in the week ended Wednesday from 0.19 percent in the previous week.

Full article here:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100902/D9I00PO82.html

What if you could find a safe way to make 100 times that Annual Rate of Return? What if this investment also protected you from future energy cost increases?

Photovoltaics -- Solar Electricity -- is just that investment. Typical returns are 20+ % per year.

Shouldn't part of your portfolio be renewable energy -- PV? It really is a no-brainer. Remove money from money market,or mutual fund, put on roof ---- increase your returns dramatically. And you don't get taxed on the income you generate on your roof.

Credentials and Relations, Owner has been doing solar over 20 years

Good Credentials

Letter from Hawaii State

We sent inquiry to the state regarding the solar-powered devices installation as we hear that many home owner is prevented installation from their community association.

The letter confirmed that "...... no person shall be prevented by any covenant, declaration, bylaws....from installing a solar energy device...............

Please click the below letter for larger view.

Credentials - How Do We Stay at the Front

And below is the reason that we use only stainless steel in our mounting fasteners!

Another Happy Customer

Another happy customer sent us recent HECO bill.

HECO bill from PV Customer

Here is the sample of HECO bills from our PV customer


BEFORE PV INSTALLATION




AFTER PV INSTALLATION

PES Methods of Energy usage Analysis, Dont buy more PV than you need

HE Participating contractor

Pacific Energy Strategies, LLC is proud to be one of the HAWAII ENERGY participating Contractors. Hawaii Energy is taking the place of HECO in implementing not just the solar programs, but all the strategic planning and incentives for energy efficiency. They have the same quality system specs and they continue to do a 100% inspection on every system.

HECO PV article from Honolulu Advertiser

On again, off again. Right now, it is very easy to get permission to "tie-in" to the grid. In the past, you needed a team of lawyers and engineers to hammer out an agreement with HECO. As you can imagine, the costs were high, and that is why no one took advantage of PV. That can happen again. Don't miss out on a good deal, especially now that it is easy!

The article was posted today on Feb 27, 2010


Please click the picture for the larger view.

PV Pictures - 15% Return on Investment Annually

New Financing Program

University of Hawaii federal Credit Union offers a GREEN LOAN for a Solar System!

Please contact us how to take advantage of low interest financing option.

Electric Bill to ZERO kWH Usage

Just today on President's Day, we received 2 electric bills from satisfied PV customers. The first one was done with Microinverters and it took their bill to ZERO in one swoop. The second bill is from a Kunia customer who did Phase 1 on the Sunnyboy Inverter, and is now doing Phase 2 just today. He will definitely go to ZERO usage.

Think of what our great old President's would strive so hard for...Independence. Get Independence with PV. The average residential customer gets about a 15% return on investment. Businesses and combined residential/business get even higher rates of return because of Section 179 expensing and/or Accelerated Depreciation.

Invest in Independence with a high rate of return!

Tax Thoughts -- Extra Benefits for Home Businesses

Do you have a legtimate home business? You may be surprised to find that you can reap benefits that bring the business portion of your solar investment to very low levels, almost free. Some people can enjoy an annual rate of return of around 70%. THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

The section 179 depreciation expense AND/OR
MACRS Accelerated Depreciation

Can make a massive difference in your solar investment performance!!

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100203/D9DKVAB00.html

Please note that we are not tax professionals, and any tax related information presented is just an opinion that you MUST verify through your own trusted tax professional.

We have examples and official interpretations of the solar laws that have been published by the State of Hawaii and others, and we can provide this information to you and your trusted professional. Many of these clear up gray areas. Many Sales people do not understand the tax implications, or they present it in a slanted way so that only their product looks the best. Do not fall into that trap.

Solar with Government Support --- "Your" Bailout

The State and Federal government want to encourage solar.

Put your money in the bank, and you get what? Maybe 1%

Put your money in a mutual fund, and hope for 7%, but be ready to lose 50%?

Put your money in Bernie Madoffs hands and ....... ouch.

Put your money on your roof, and you may see a 15% annual return on investment, and even better for business / part business usage. A portion of your portfolio should be invested in renewable energy sources, which makes you even stronger against future energy rate increases.

What would it feel like to no longer "be gamed" by the oil industry? It is a good feeling. They can still get you at the pump, at least until we have electric vehicles, and our own PV powered charging station. The PV system that you start building now can be used years down the road as infrastructure for your vehicle charging station.

UPDATED INFO REGARDING $1,000 REBATE REDUCTION

Just received this from Hawaii Energy today. It clarifies that the sale date for a new system needs to be before 02/01/2010 in order to qualify for the $1,000 incentive. Take a look by clicking on the image.

HERE'S A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION YOU WON'T MIND KEEPING!

Why continue to pay unnecessarily high electric bills? One of our customers in Waikele installed a PV system this past July and he "zeroed out!" Basically paying just the minimum charge for having electric service, he's running his electric account with a credit balance and doesn't have to pay! You can do the same! Call us today for your free customized evaluation!

$200 FOR EACH REFERRAL - FEB ONLY!

Refer your friends and family before Mar 1, 2010
You get a DOUBLE REFERRAL FEE of $200. That’s a sweet deal for making a phone call.

WHY IS MY ELECTRIC BILL SO HIGH?

Most people do not realize that their electric water heater consumes over 40% of their electric. By installing a solar water heater, you can cut this cost anywhere from 30-40% monthly.

If you have a $300 electric bill, that's savings of $90-$120 EACH MONTH!

Installing CFL light bulbs and energy efficient appliances are also a big step to reducing the cost on your electric bill. Why waste your money?

PACIFIC ENERGY ON THE KHON 2 NEWS

Renewable Energy is getting prime time TV coverage. Pacific Energy has just made their 3rd appearance on the news supporting solar and a good cause.

SWAN SONG FOR $1,000 INSTANT REBATE? HAWAII ENERGY CUTTING BACK BEGINNING FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Starting the first day of February 2010, Hawaii Energy is decreasing their $1,000 instant rebate down to just $750. What does this mean to the consumer? It means they lose out on extra money if they haven't signed up for their system by January 31 and installed it by February 28. If you're thinking about solar don't wait and let it affect you!

SOLAR PV FROM CHINA - AT WHAT COST?

The push towards a greener future is a logical one. Because this “gray” future shown in the news link below, shows what kind of future occurs when easy money and fast growth policies are allowed to run rampant.

China is building PV panel producing plants very fast, many in the last few years. They have lower costs of production, less environmental laws, and less watchdogs for quality of production process. Time will tell whether all of these are good things.

Check out these Amazingly Disturbing Pictures from China