New policies for leased solar electric systems

SRP currently allows customers participating in SRP's EarthWise™ Solar Electric Program to finance their systems via a lease arrangement. Beginning July 15, 2010, SRP will implement the following changes for customers entering into leased agreements:

  1. Licensing: SRP will now require the leasing entity to hold the proper dealer license. The dealer represents the company that has the contract with the customer for the purchase or lease of the system equipment. Dealers must have one of the following license types: B-, C-11, KB-1, KB-2, or K-11. If the dealer can show that the scope of work associated with their license application includes a solar electric component, the following licenses also would be accepted: C-05, KO-, and K-05.
  2. Incentive Calculation: SRP will now prorate the incentive reservation and payment based on the length of the base term of the lease agreement. As you know, SRP pays the incentive in exchange for the renewable energy credits (REC) generated by the solar electric system over a 20-year period. If the base term of the lease is shorter than 20 years, the amount of the incentive will be adjusted to account for this.

    For example, a 3-kilowatt residential system that is leased over a 10-year period can request an incentive up to $3,225 as outlined in the calculation example provided below:

    Available Incentive = $2.15/Watt-DC-STC x 3,000 Watt-DC-STC = $6,450

    Lease Prorating = 10 year lease term / 20 year REC purchase period = 0.50

    Requested Incentive = $6,450 x 0.50 = $3,225

    For residential systems that are greater than 5 kilowatts, the available incentive calculation will still be limited to $10,750 before the lease prorating adjustment is taken. For commercial systems over 30kW, the available incentive calculation will still be limited to $60,000 before the lease prorating adjustment is taken.
  3. Production Based Incentive (PBI): SRP will no longer offer the 10 year PBI option for commercial customer projects. The 20 year PBI will still be available at the $0.147/kWh level.
  4. Applications: The residential solar electric application has been updated. The online Power-Clerk application for commercial projects will be updated in late summer.

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