Tiger One being powered by Solar One

The LSU Sports Radio Network pregame radio show, hosted by Jim Hawthorne and live from Tiger One Village for every home game, is powered by South Coast Solar’s mobile solar unit, “Solar One.”

“We are extraordinarily pleased that LSU is showing leadership with its commitment to become a more sustainable university.  While powering Tiger One on Saturday’s with clean renewable energy is a great first step, and we’re excited about potential permanent solar energy installations throughout the campus in the months and years ahead,” says Troy Von Otnott, President of South Coast Solar.

“The unique partnership between South Coast Solar and LSU has allowed us continue to bring forth an exciting pregame atmosphere at Tiger One Village while reducing our carbon footprint,” said Ward Wyatt, general manager of LSU Sports Properties. “We are pleased to announce Tiger One runs on solar power at home games, thanks to the partnership with South Coast Solar.”

Headquartered in New Orleans, South Coast Solar is the premier solar energy company in the southeast. For more information on South Coast Solar or to receive your free solar energy estimate, click here.

The forefront of excitement on gameday, Zatarain’s Tiger One Village features a different band each home game, the live pregame radio show, the ultimate in corporate hospitality, concessions for all tailgaters and a perfect viewing spot for the football team’s walk down Victory Hill and the golden band’s March to Death Valley. For more information on Tiger One and the Zatarain’s Tiger One Village, click here.

On gameday, visit Solar One, South Coast Solar’s mobile unit, located between the PMAC and Tiger Stadium, in Tiger One Village.

SOURCE: lsusports.net

Of course, these days just about anything is a better investment than a 2-to-3 percent CD, but Lon Huber, a policy program associate with the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE), based his conclusion that solar beats banks on the historical CD interest rate of 6 percent.

Huber’s scenario, published this week on the AzRISE Web site, is based on a 4.5 kilowatt photovoltaic installation that would generate about 63 percent of the energy used annually by a typical Arizona household.

Its installed cost of $31,500 would be partially offset by $13,500 in utility company rebates, a $1,000 Arizona tax credit and a 30 percent tax credit from the federal government, leaving the homowner with a tab of about $11,700, Huber calculated.

Homeowners would save $700 in electrical costs the first year, a savings that would grow to $2,300 a year at the end of 30 years, assuming an average annual increase for electricity rates of 4.7 percent.

Those savings, invested at the same rate as the hypothetical bank CDs, would net $28,284 more, the report says.

Results would, of course, vary, Huber said, but the calculator he developed for the study showed solar to be a better deal than CDs in all scenarios, so long as the rebates are in place and the homeowner can take advantage of the generous tax credits.

The study also assumes no special problems with installation. “Bring me a tile roof and I’ll get higher numbers than that,” said solar installer Kevin Koch, of Technicians for Sustainability.

Koch, who reviewed Huber’s numbers six months ago, said prices have actually come down since then. Solar panel production is outpacing demand. Two recent price reductions for solar panels have allowed his firm to lower its overall prices by 9 percent to 10 percent.

The reductions and the extension of federal tax credits have kept the three-year-old business booming, Koch said. “We’ve been steadily growing since 2006,” he said. “Today we’re confirming two new hires and interviewing for a third.”

Huber said his report is “tilted toward people with money to invest.” If you borrow to install your solar system, he said, “It still makes sense but the benefit is significantly reduced.”

But choosing to invest cash in your roof or in a bank should be easy, said Huber.

“If you have capital and you’re looking to protect your purchasing power and make money off your savings, then solar is the way to go,” Huber said.

The passage of Senate Bill 91, the Commercial Tax Credit Bill, will provide business owners with a 25% State Tax Credit up to $450,000 per project.  This credit will be in addition to the unlimited 30% Federal Tax Credit and will allow business owners to install large renewable energy systems on their property.  Senate Bill 92 is in general a “fix-it” bill allowing for third party ownership of solar energy systems (think leasing), provides a consumer protection mechanism and removes anti-stacking language with regard to multi-family developers, allowing them to use renewable energy tax credits in addition to new market tax credits and other federal incentives.  And, last but definitely not least, SB 224 authorizes the creation of Sustainable Energy Finance Districts throughout the State of Louisiana.  This very smart public policy legislation will authorize municipalities to issue tax-exempt bonds to create a pool of money for citizens to access 100% of their funding needs for renewable energy and energy efficiency equipment/services.  I urge everyone to contact their representatives and request their support for these important bills.  The passage of all three will ensure that Louisiana stays on the vanguard of the national renewable energy industry.

SB91 - Click to Download.

SB92 - Click to Download.

SB224 - Click to Download.

Garland Robinette, Ben Norwood-Tax Attorney for Adams and Reese, LLC  and Scott Oman-Chief Technology Officer for South Coast Solar discuss and clear up the common mis-conception that the LA state solar tax credit is capped at $12,500.

The “solar tax credit bill” from the State of Louisiana says that 50% of the cost of each solar system installed up to $25,000.  They key words are “each system”, and residents can install as many systems as they want up to 25kW. The Louisiana Department of Revenue has further clarified that  “[e]ach residence or apartment project in the state is eligible for tax credits for the number of separate complete solar electric and solar thermal energy systems necessary to ensure that the residence or apartment project is supplied with all of its energy needs.”

Some of the key points of the Louisiana Dept. of Revenue’s rulings on the law are listed below.

1.    Louisiana Revised Statute 47:6030 authorizes an income tax credit for the purchase and installation of solar energy systems by a Louisiana homeowner.
2.    La. R.S. 47:6030(B)(1) provides that the “credit shall be equal to fifty percent of the cost of each wind energy system or solar energy system, including installation costs, that is purchased and    installed on or after January 1, 2008.”
3.    “The credit may be used in addition to any federal tax credits earned for the same system.”  La. R.S. 47:6030(B)(1).
4.    La. R.S. 47:6030(C) provides that the Tax Credit is refundable.
5.    LAC 61:I.1907(C)(1) provides that “[e]ach residence or apartment project in the state is eligible for tax credits for the number of separate complete solar electric and solar thermal energy systems necessary to ensure that the residence or apartment project is supplied with all of its energy needs.”
6.    LAC 61:I.1907 (D)(3) provides that “[e]ligible solar electric systems under the tax credit include grid-connected net metering systems, grid-connected net metering with battery backup, stand alone alternating current (AC) systems, and stand alone direct current (DC) systems designed to produce electrical energy.”
7.    LAC 61:I.1907 (D)(4) provides that “s[]olar thermal systems eligible under the tax credit include systems designed to produce domestic hot water, systems designed to produce thermal energy for use in heating and cooling systems and solar pool heating systems.”

What this all means is that a true 50% of all of the solar energy systems that you install on your home will be covered by our amazing 50% refundable state tax credits.

Written by: Butler Ives

La State Resident Tax Form

A San Francisco-based Web site called 1 Block Off the Grid (www.1bog.org), co-founded by Louisiana native David Llorens, is brokering solar-panel installations in 20 cities, including New Orleans. The Web site acts as a conduit between potential solar-power consumers and providers, and uses the strength and size of the group to negotiate lower prices from local solar-panel installers.

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The Web site’s debut campaign brought in more than 180 applicants in San Francisco. Though only 42 completed the entire solar-panel purchase and installation process, the group comprised 20 percent of the city’s new solar-panel consumers for the fourth quarter of 2008, said Llorens, who is also general manager of the Web site.

“We did it in San Francisco, and it was extremely successful,” Llorens said. “Now we’re starting campaigns in other cities. If we get 100 people signed up, we’ll begin the process in that area.”

The group began seeking registrants in New Orleans and other cities in late November. So far, only a handful of New Orleanians have signed up, but Llorens said he hopes to get the word out through neighborhood groups and local environmental nonprofits, as well as the Web site.

With generous federal and state tax credits available for solar-panel installation in Louisiana, the security of a virtual network of consumers, all going through the same process together and all overseen by a third party, could be the tipping point in getting people to go solar, Llorens said.

“I like Louisiana because, well, I’m from Shreveport, but it’s also got one of the best (state) subsidies in the nation: 50 percent,” Llorens said. “That’s huge. It’s mind-blowing.”

Once 100 people have signed up in a given area, 1 Block Off the Grid will gather information from each applicant on utility usage, roof size, roof location and other specifications that are traditionally collected and evaluated by the solar installer. Once 1 Block Off the Grid has determined the number of eligible, willing clients, it will send a request for proposals to local solar installation companies. The one with the best track record that provides the lowest bid gets the entire job.

“We want to know their installation practices, cost structure, what products they plan on using, their history of referrals,” Llorens said. “(The group bargaining) does three things. It creates competition between installers. Second, the (completion) rate is much higher. The group is more ready to purchase solar energy . . . so it makes everything go faster. The consumers get a safe feeling knowing that everybody is getting the same deal, and knowing that (the installer) has gone through a vetting process.”

After 1 Block Off the Grid widened its net, more than 600 people signed up across the Bay Area. The company has discussed partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities program, which gave a $200,000 grant to New Orleans in 2007 to encourage solar-panel use.

The Web site collects a fee from each solar installer that wins a group contract, but Llorens said he and his co-founders are trying to “break ground on a new type of business model” that combines a for-profit bottom line with a cushion of nonprofit progressivism.

“It’s for profit, but it’s all about pursuing social change,” Llorens said.

Source: Nola.com

October 20, 2008 (New Orleans, LA)  Today, executives with New Orleans-based South Coast Solar, Louisiana’s leading provider of solar electric panels, solar hot water heaters, and solar pool heating products, announced that the Federal Government has dramatically improved the tax credit for residential solar energy systems. On Friday, October 3, by a vote of 263 to 171, the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic legislation that extends the 30-percent Federal Investment Tax Credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years. This landmark legislation is part of H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, designed to address the U.S. financial crisis.  It is the most significant federal policy ever enacted for the solar industry.

“Coupled with the fact that on January 1st, 2008, the State of Louisiana initiated one of the most forward-thinking renewable energy rebate programs in the country, providing a 50% tax credit for each renewable energy system for homeowners and multi-family apartments, Louisiana residents now have an historic opportunity to affordably integrate renewable energy systems into their residences” said Troy Von Otnott, President of South Coast Solar.  “The removal of the $2,000 cap on the Federal Investment Tax Credit, in addition to Louisiana’s 50% Tax Credit for residents and multi-family apartment owners, provides Louisiana residents an additional $5,500 in tax credits on a typical $25,000, 3kW residential solar energy system, which produces over 4,000 kilowatt hours annually of clean energy.  Once the resident is reimbursed by federal and state tax credits on their annual tax returns, the final cost of a 3kW solar energy system is $5,000.  An 80% combined tax credit is going to create a great deal of clean and green renewable energy in Louisiana,” said Von Otnott.

“Additionally, with no end in sight for upwardly spiraling fuel costs, worldwide automakers are re-tooling their manufacturing plants to soon offer an extensive lineup of electric cars.  This presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have a dual impact on carbon emissions from both your home and vehicle with the same solar system.  These important clean energy subsidies help level the playing field for environmentally responsible homeowners who want to address climate change and simultaneously save money at home and, in the near future, on the road”, said Scott Oman, Chief Technology Officer of South Coast Solar.

The utilization of green solar power for homes, businesses and automobiles will enable Louisianans to live, commute, work and play in a more environmentally responsible manner using less utility-generated energy, which for owners will translate into significantly lower energy bills.  South Coast Solar was recently tapped by Brad Pitt’s Make It Right NOLA Foundation to design, install and permit solar electric systems for the six Make it Right houses that have been completed to date.

The Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) provisions will:
· Extend for 8 years the 30-percent tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations;

· Eliminate the $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations, creating a true 30-percent tax credit (effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2008);

· Eliminate the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit;

· Allow Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) filers, both businesses and individuals, to take the credit;

· Authorizes $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.

WASHINGTON, DC, October 3, 2008 (ENS) – Renewable energy businesses are breathing a sigh of relief today as the extension of the production and investment tax credits that benefit their industries were approved by Congress as part of the $700 billion bail-out package for the financial industry.

The House of Representatives passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, this afternoon by a vote of 263 to 171, and less than two hours later, President George W. Bush signed it into law. The Senate passed it on Wednesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said that she is “pleased that the bill includes an extension of tax cuts for clean renewable energy that will create and save half a million good-paying paying jobs in America immediately.”

“This was a part of our energy bill last year; it did not survive the Senate. It now has become a part of this legislation. And it is paid for. We fought hard to include these critical tax cuts … because they are central to job creation,” Pelosi said.

The tax credit package will extend the renewable energy production tax credit for one year and the investment tax credit for eight years. The extensions will be partly paid for by a change in the tax code for the oil and gas industry.

Greg Wetstone, senior director of governmental and public affairs at the American Wind Energy Association, said in a statement, “We salute Members of Congress in both parties who fought under difficult conditions to keep the renewable energy production tax credit and small turbine investment tax credit on the agenda until the very end, and then pushed them across the finish line.”

Wind turbine and flag at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County, New York (Photo PPM Energy)

“These tax credits are essential to the continued growth of wind energy, to the economic and energy security of the United States, and to a successful beginning in the fight against global warming,” said Wetstone.

“We look forward to working next year with a new Congress and administration to fashion a serious long-term clean energy policy that increases domestic energy, increases our reliance on clean renewable energy, and creates jobs for Americans,” he said.

The one year production tax credit extension also applies to other energy sources such as geothermal; closed-loop biomass; hydropower; landfill gas; and trash combustion facilities.

It also creates a tax credit for a new energy production category – marine renewable – which is energy derived from waves, tides, and currents.

The bill creates a new limitation on the amount of credits that can be claimed with respect to property placed in service after 2009.

The measure increases the tax credit limitation for fuel cells from $500 to $1,500 per half kilowatt of capacity.

The bill provides tax credits for advanced coal electricity projects with highest priority given to projects with the greatest separation and sequestration percentage of total carbon dioxide emissions at a cost of $1.4 billion over 10 years.

“This bill is a major step in our long journey toward energy independence and ensures that solar energy will be a significant part of America’s energy future,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, SEIA, which has lobbied long and hard for the tax credit extensions.

String ribbon solar cell technology combines attributes of conventional crystalline silicon and emerging thin films. (Photo courtesy Evergreen Solar)

He said 60,000 Americans are employed by the solar energy industry.

“This long-term extension of the solar tax credits will create a domestic solar industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs while providing clean, affordable, carbon-free energy to millions of American families, businesses, and communities,” said Resch.

The solar investment tax credit provisions will extend for eight years the 30 percent tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations.

The $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations is eliminated and so is the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit.

It also authorizes $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.

The solar tax credits were originally enacted in the 2005 and have created unprecedented growth across the United States where the amount of solar electric capacity installed in 2007 was double that installed in 2006.

“By passing this bill, Congress has finally given the solar energy industry ‘policy certainty’ that will attract investment, expand manufacturing and lower the cost of solar energy to consumers,” said Roger Efird, SEIA chairman and president of Suntech America, a Chinese solar power manufacturing company. “This will allow companies like mine to move forward with expansion plans to serve the growing U.S. market.”

“This bill puts the Sun to work for every American,” added Resch. “And by 2016, we expect solar energy to be the least expensive source of electricity for consumers.”

Of the entire $700 billion bail-out package, Speaker Pelosi said that the need for this measure is “urgent” and that the version passed today is much improved over the version rejected by the House on Monday.

“To protect the taxpayers, we insisted on tough oversight and accountability,” Pelosi said, adding, “”We also reformed CEO compensation and [put] an end to golden parachutes.”

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said, “The action we were forced to take this week on the House floor was extraordinary, difficult, and necessary. And though not a perfect bill, I was proud to lend my hand to the process in a way to help ensure taxpayer protections were included, and unrelated special-interest give-aways were left out.”

Source:  Environment News Source

Posted by:  Butler Ives

Such solar tax credits, originally enacted in 2005, are generally recognized to be essential to help the younger industry compete against the (readily subsidized) coal, nuclear and oil industries, and to allow increased competition to drive solar products down the cost curve.

The industry has been thirsty for a show of government support for the many months during which the 30 percent tax credit was set to expire; the long, uncertain flirtation threatened the 60,000 people working in the solar industry, $230 billion in investments, and to reverse the doubling of solar electric capacity achieved between 2006 and 2007. Foot-dragging may even have artificially depressed US market demand during that time, sending big solar companies to nations like Germany, which has passed 20-year supports for sun energy. For those in the know, winning this extension–to last eight years, no less!–has been a hard slog. So when the bailout news broke, Wall Street may have been merely relieved–but Silicon Valley, incubator for some of the most exciting solar breakthroughs, was reportedly in full swoon.

Some executives hauled out Champagne. Solar power advocates in San Francisco threw an impromptu party at a downtown bar.

“It’s a fantastic day for the renewable-power industry,” said Julie Blunden, vice president for public policy at SunPower Corp. of San Jose, after picking up a bottle of bubbly. “This is one of those few times when you can tell you’re at a turning point.”

Though the bailout ended up with a less than desirable number of legislative hangers-on (cf. the arrow-factory earmark that 337 members of Congress felt was necessary), this was a crucially important addition, geared at stopping the number of new solar projects from plunging, Dow-style, over the next several years, and to keep the notion of green job creation viable as the country’s unemployment numbers tick up. A one year production tax credit also applies to other energy sources such as geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and wave energy–a new category. The only snag: Tax breaks for wind production were only extended for a single year. So although an encouraging amount of track has already been laid, we may be fighting this battle all over again in 2009.

Source:  The New Republic

Posted by: Butler Ives