$3,000
50% to 74%
of electricity
$30,000
10%
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I was able to secure a net 10% annual return on investment by installing a group net metered solar PV project on my farm.
$3,000
50% to 74%
of electricity
$30,000
10%
Property
- Owner:
- Jeff Forward
- Type:
- Farm
- Energy need met:
- 50% to 74% of electricity
Technology
- Type:
- Biomass & Biofuel systems
- Installed:
- January 2011
- Size of System:
- 13.6 kW
- Monitor performance:
- https://services.wattmetrics.com/dashboard.aspx?siteId=153#/dashboard
- Purposes:
- To generate electricity
Financial Details
- Gross Cost of System:
- $85,000
- Value of Rebates:
- $10,000
- Value of Tax Credits:
- $45,000
- Net Cost of System:
- $30,000
- Annual Savings:
- $3,000
- Own or Lease:
- Cash Purchase
- Additional Financial Notes:
- This is a group system and offsets energy use for four households
What You Need to Know
Description:
This is a 13.6 kW group net metered solar PV system. Four households are in the group. I made the entire investment and group members pay me the credit they receive from our utility. Because this is considered a commercial system, I was able to take advantage of both the 30% federal tax credit and I was able to deduct the depreciation from my income. This depreciation deduction was the deciding factor for me in investing and I am able to get a 10% annual return on my net investment.
Maintenance Requirements:
I adjust this ground mounted system twice per year on a single axis. I have eight poles and it takes two people about a half hour for each time I adjust the angle of the panels.
My Motivation:
I am a renewable energy and energy efficiency consultant. I believe in renewable energy and I wanted to invest in technology rather than stock.
Advice:
Get good tax advice.
Experience with Installer:
My installer was based about 75 miles away and drew labor from even farther. This meant that the laborers who installed this system had to spend a good four hours per day in the car to get to my site. This slowed installation down considerably. It took nearly eight weeks to install this system and it should have only taken one to two weeks.
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