Long Island Power Authority Reduces Solar Rebates Once Again

When I first came to EmPower Solar as a lowly intern in June of 2009 (don’t worry, now I’m full time, with a degree), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) was paying solar system owners $3.50 per watt of electric power capacity installed as part of its Solar Pioneer Program.  That means the utility could literally pay you $35,000 – half the total cost – for a typical 10kw residential system.  This is not including federal and state tax credits, which can further reduce the cost to owners.

I came back to EmPower full time upon completing my degree earlier this summer, when rebates were down to $2.00.  After a few weeks, we got word that the rebates were going down even further, and might even dry up for the rest of the year! Luckily that didn’t happen, but rebates have officially been lowered to $1.75 per watt for up to 10kw or $17,500.

What does this mean for homeowners who want to go solar? Well, fortunately system costs have gone down as well.  It’s a typical effect of supply and demand: demand for solar panels have skyrocketed in the past few years nationwide, so industry kicked up production and took advantage of economies of scale.  It’s still a great time to go solar, as rebates tend to stay somewhat proportional to system cost.  But it is likely that utility rebate funding will indeed dry up in the near future.  This is a tribute to the success of the program – and the awesome fact that Long Islanders are supporting the clean energy mission – but the money won’t be available forever.  If you are at all considering going solar, now is the time.  Solar panels are cost effective anyway, but you don’t want to miss the chance to have LIPA pay a large chunk of your system cost and reduce the payback by a few years.  Given the speed at which rebates have been dropping, there is no predicting how long they’ll last.

See for yourself a rebate update on LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Rebate Block Guidelines Site website.  If you follow some links to the rebate block graph, you can see the rate at which the rebates are being dispersed.

And to read a Newsday article on LIPA’s rebate status, click here



Energy Stimulus Money Slow to Spend, But Making Strides for Solar on Long Island and New York State

Of the $3.2 billion that the economic stimulus package of 2009 allocated towards energy efficiency and conservation, only 8.4% had been spent as of the beginning of this month.  An Audit Report was released by the Department of Energy last week examining the status of funds granted to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The DOE disbursed most of the available funds for projects that would increase energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions.  However, after a year only $269.7 million had been spent, producing or saving just 2,265 jobs.

http://www.ig.energy.gov/documents/OAS-RA-10-16.pdf

Why the delays in spending?  Low levels of spending and job creation were clearly not the desired outcome of this program.  But the one-year analysis found impediments to implementation including administrative and regulatory issues at the federal, state, and local levels.  A shortage of Department staff and abundance of federal controls have made it difficult for local governments to spend money as planned.  More details on these issues can be found in the status report.

The Department of Energy had the chance to respond to this audit and argued that the program was more successful than made to appear by this report; much of the money has actually been committed to projects so there is promise of spending in the near future.

What does this mean for solar? Although most stimulus grants for renewable energy technologies are given through other areas, like the State Energy Program leg of the Recovery Act, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block includes solar power on government buildings.  According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Governor Paterson back in March 2010, $24 million of this block funding was awarded for clean energy projects in small municipalities across New York state.  Plans for this money included both solar photovoltaic and thermal systems on various facilities including fire stations, libraries, and town halls.  Here is the breakdown of funds for Long Island:

http://www.nyserda.org/economicrecovery/documents/rfp10_awardees.pdf

It’s great to see that New York municipalities are on board and in many cases leading the mission of spreading solar energy and efficiency!

We Moved to New Offices!

Last week, EmPower Solar moved to new offices.  If you’re eager to come by, we are still VERY easy to find.  We’ve only moved 2 doors down the street – about 30 seconds from our old offices.  Our phone number is the same (516) 837-3459, but we can now be found at:

221 Long Beach Rd
Island Park, NY 11558

Over the past year, EmPower has experienced significant growth which required us to acquire more space.  In 12 months, EmPower’s number of employees more than doubled from 12 to 30.   Our lifetime number of installations has surpassed 200, cumulatively greater than 1 megawatt of solar.  Recently, EmPower designed and installed the largest commercial solar installation on Long Island – a 117-kW system at Piece Management in New Hyde Park.  All of these underscore the strength of the solar market on Long Island and the promise for continued growth for EmPower and the renewable energy industry!

David Schieren Published in Long Island Business News

EmPower’s CEO David Schieren was featured in the Long Island Business News (LIBN) last week.  He wrote an op-ed explaining the benefits of solar energy and why utilities and the government should continue to provide incentives for renewables, at least in the short-term.  You can read the article at LIBN’s website if you have a subscription.  If you don’t have a subscription, the full text of the article is below.

Schieren: Reasons to take a shine to solar power

By David Schieren

Long Island’s and our nation’s current energy paradigms are not sustainable. Every day we buy about $1 billion of oil from other countries, some of which are hostile to America. Every day, air pollution from our fossil-fueled power plants creates serious public health problems, including increased asthma rates, cardiac issues and premature deaths. Every day we wait for BP to plug the Gulf oil leak as we helplessly witness the destruction of wildlife and the livelihoods of thousands of Americans.

A renewable energy economy is the solution. A renewable energy economy will stabilize future energy prices, create jobs and increase domestically supplied energy while decreasing imports. A renewable energy economy will create a more prosperous, healthy and civil world for ourselves and future generations.

Locally, there is a pressing need to bring new energy sources into our power mix. Renewables, including solar energy, are beneficial for all Long Islanders. Solar rebates and tax incentive programs not only benefit those who choose solar energy systems for their homes and businesses, but also are good for all ratepayers. Here’s why:

As grid electricity prices continue to go up because of volatile and increasing fossil fuel prices, solar prices are coming down. Electric bills have consistently increased in recent years while solar costs have decreased at a rate of nearly 4 percent a year since 1998, a trend expected to continue. Many industry experts predict solar energy will achieve “grid parity” (the moment when solar electricity costs the same as traditional electricity) within the next five years. Through net metering, excess solar capacity is sold back to the Long Island Power Authority resulting in significantly lower bills for the solar user and a supply of clean, low-cost power for the other ratepayers. Read more…

Call to Action: Support SREC Legislation in NY

As you may have heard recently, there is legislation in the New York assembly to create a solar renewable energy credit (SREC) incentive structure in the State.  This would be similar to the very successful SREC market launched in New Jersey.  The New York Solar Industry Development and Jobs Act would create 22,000 new jobs in the state and bring 5 Gigawatts of solar online by 2025.

The video below by SolarOne does a great job of explaining how the SREC market would work and all the benefits it would bring to NY.

Some important points are:

• Create about $20 billion in economic activity in the state
• Residential and commercial size systems would benefit
• 140x increase in New York solar capacity by 2025
• Low cost: only about 39 cents extra on each month’s electric bill

This legislation needs to get voted on by June 21 when the Summer legislative break begins.  Take action and let your representatives know that you support the Solar Industry.