Building solar power, $100 at a time

Oct 25 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Cyndy Cole The Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff

Let's say you like the concept of renewable energy, but rent your living space, as do about 12,000 other Flagstaff households.

Solar panels are probably out of reach, because installing them on someone else's property would rarely make sense financially.

They're also not viable if you own your house but it faces the wrong direction.

But would you offer a small loan -- say $100 -- to help buy solar panels for a nearby school or church?

For Flagstaff, it's not a hypothetical scenario.

A for-profit company that raises money and lines up contractors for just such projects is proposing to bring $50,000 worth of solar panels to Flagstaff's city-owned Murdoch Center partially via small loans amassed from online donors.

The idea worked in Oakland's Chinatown, where online crowds loaned $98,200 to add solar panels to an Asian cultural center. The panels there are projected to save the building tenants an estimated $100,000 in electricity bills over 20 years.

DIVERTING MONEY ELSEWHERE

If funded, the Flagstaff project would cut the Murdoch Center's electric bill and allow the Southside Neighborhood Association that rents the building to divert that money elsewhere.

It would also employ local solar panel installers at Prometheus Renewables and repay online donors over a span of seven to 10 years, said company spokeswoman Lisa Curtis.

"This is really an opportunity to match people who want to invest in solar but don't have the roof to do it with community centers that have the room but not the money to do it," Curtis said.

A school and a church are proposed next for Flagstaff.

Solar Mosaic, the company involved, pairs public loans with federal incentives (expected to cover about 30 percent of the cost in this scenario), and sometimes with big donors.

The company plans to raise $20,100 in donations from the public and match it with tax donations to raise about $50,000 in all for solar panels at the Murdoch Center.

About 84 percent of the Murdoch Center's power would come from these solar panels, and they would also feed any occasional surpluses into the greater electric grid.

CUTTING THE ELECTRIC BILL

The Southside Neighborhood Association today pays about $4,000 annually in electric bills at the Murdoch Center, for events, computer labs and a preschool that sub-leases space.

This would cut the group's annual electric bill to about $2,950, with some of that amount going to repay donors, and 5 percent going to Solar Mosaic.

Add up traditional increases in electric bills and leases, and the neighborhood group (or other tenants) would save $73,943 altogether over a span of 20 years. After that, the city of Flagstaff would own the panels.

The panels are made in Oregon and California, and come with a 25-year warranty, said Ryan Holtz, of Prometheus Renewables, a Flagstaff company that installs renewable energy and also teaches homeowners how.

"We easily think they're going to last 30 to 40 years," he said.

LESS THAN A WEEK

It will take six people less than one week to install them, and it's expected to happen this winter, clearing snow off the roof by shovel if it snows.

Solar Mosaic someday wants to be able to give investors interest on their loans, but that requires clearance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Curtis said.

Until then, perks for investors include yard signs, T-shirts, and the general knowledge that some amount of fossil fuels won't be burned where these solar panels are added.

"We'd like to think of this as more than a carbon offset in that you're not paying for a sin you committed, but you're really creating something," Curtis said.

MORE FOR PROGRAMMING

This all sounds like a pretty good deal for the Southside Neighborhood Association, said the group's Deb Harris.

The association couldn't pay for solar panels on its own. But it expects to save on its power bill in the first year, and that money could go to community activities.

"We will definitely put the extra money back into doing programming and providing staff time," Harris said.

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.

On the Web

Visit solarmosaic.com for more information, video