#GeoStellar

[solidsolarservices]

How Commercial Solar Can Lower Your Electricity Costs

Commercial solar can help your business save thousands of dollars on electricity costs. Federal and local incentives-tax credits, accelerated depreciation, grants and rebates-can offset installation costs.

Larger commercial systems typically require planning permission and may need a large roof area. These systems produce energy on a 24/7 basis and so can require battery storage solutions.

1.        Lower Energy Costs

For example, many companies are now offering their employees the opportunity to buy and install commercial solar installation sydney on their homes at reduced rates via a platform like Geostellar. This arrangement is a natural extension of their existing sustainability efforts and helps to attract and retain employees who care about the environment. It also shows that the company is invested in their team members and their community.

Business owners can take advantage of a federal investment tax credit that reduces the cost of a solar power system by 30%. State and utility company incentives like net metering can further reduce or eliminate the upfront cost of investing in solar.

In addition, a commercial solar system is 100 percent sustainable, which reduces emissions that degrade air, water, and soil quality. This is especially important for companies that depend on fossil fuels to produce their energy. Depending on the size of your system and your energy consumption, you can also make money by selling excess solar energy back to the utility grid under net metering programs.

2.        Environmentally Friendly

Commercial solar is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to power your business. It lowers energy costs and decreases reliance on fossil fuels, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions. It also offers battery storage, which means your business can continue to operate during a power outage.

Fossil fuel-based electricity generates greenhouse gases that degrade the air, water, and soil quality. Solar energy eliminates this harm by limiting the amount of harmful GHG emissions.

Consumers are increasingly looking to support and work with sustainability-minded companies. This may boost your brand image and attract new customers. It can even help you win new supplier and vendor contracts. Additionally, the reduced operational costs from using a commercial solar system can reduce your OpEx. This can lead to increased profit, and in turn, more cash flow for your company.

3.        Increased Productivity

The solar tax credit (ITC) is a valuable incentive that can significantly reduce your installation costs. Combined with the MACRS depreciation incentive, this allows commercial and nonprofit organizations to recover about 70% of their investment in a solar panel system in year one!

Agricultural operations, dairy farms, and other businesses using lots of electricity can reduce their power costs significantly with commercial solar. By generating energy on-site, businesses become immune to power company price increases.

Adding a storage component to your commercial solar project increases energy savings. By shaving peak demand, you can see substantial bill savings if your organization is on a demand charge utility rate.

Solar panels also bolster a brand’s image, demonstrating to consumers and stakeholders that your company is committed to sustainability and transitioning to renewable energy. This is increasingly important as consumer demands shift toward environmentally friendly products and services. Lastly, a professional energy audit will give your business an in-depth breakdown of how you use energy in your building, helping you identify the best ways to save.

4.        Increased Employee Retention

Having a robust talent retention strategy is an important part of managing high quality solar industry teams. It is a key driver of employee satisfaction and productivity.

One great way to do this is by putting in place long-term employee incentive programs. Ambitious employees like to see their hard work and dedication rewarded, especially when that rewards comes with a direct financial upside.

5.        Increased Productivity

With solar energy, businesses can significantly reduce their reliance on the grid. This not only helps reduce electricity prices but also eliminates the risk of power outages that could interrupt productivity.

Commercial projects can be more complex, with many different stakeholders involved. Getting everyone on board with a green initiative can be difficult, but the long term benefits of going solar are worth it.

Fortunately, federal and state tax incentives make it more affordable for businesses to go solar than ever before. With the ITC and MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System), companies can save up to 70% on their solar project costs. Additionally, with solar’s low energy rates, a company can be cash flow positive within a year. This includes savings from reduced utility costs and a predictable energy price for the entire system’s 30-year lifespan.

[topsolarpanels]

The World’s Largest Renewable Energy Developer Could Go Broke

There is a “substantial risk” that SunEdison may file for insolvency, the world’s largest renewable energy developer said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The company’s fall isn’t a referendum on the solar industry as a whole, as much as it is on SunEdison’s aggressive growth strategy fueled by excessive indebtednes and financial engineering, analysts say.

SunEdison “just thought they were smarter than everyone else, ” told David Levine, the founder and CEO of Geostellar, a solar energy marketplace that has done deals with the company.

The company’s shares have fallen steeply since they made a high of $30 in July. They were at just $1.26 before the filing. The stock instantly dropped another 40 percent when the market opened after the filing, and the company was trading at just $0.59 by Tuesday lunchtime.

“What occurred from late-2 014 to the middle of 2015, the company began embarking on a hyper-growth strategy, ” S& P analyst Angelo Zino told The Huffington Post.

SunEdison loaded up a total of $11 billion in debt to develop or acquire renewable energy projects. Once projects were complete, they sold them to one of two separate, public companies, called yieldcos, which SunEdison controlled. The company also generated two internal financing entities, called warehouses, that raised a total of $2.5 billion to build renewable energy projects, which would be sold to the yieldcos once they were complete.

The theory was that health risks of building and managing renewable energy projects could be split into its various components and investors could buy exactly the slice they wanted. To work, SunEdison needed to keep creating more money to construct new projects, and its yieldcos needed to keep raising fund to keep buying those projects so that the company could pay down its debt in order to borrow more to build new projects.

“That is way too complicated, way too smart I would say … There’s only so much you should do because you are super smart, ” told an industry commentator, who is familiar with SunEdison’s business. “It’s a great company with great assets. It’s the finance department that’s the problem…They over-engineered it to death.”

Levine told HuffPost that a bargain to buy the residential solar company Vivint for $2.2 billion in July of 2015 started the cratering. He pointed out that there’s nothing inherently wrong with yieldcos. Other solar companies and other utilities have them, but what set SunEdison apart was what it tried to stuff into the yieldcos. Rather than sticking to utility scale projects, SunEdison included residential solar that was tied long-term contracts. Investors didn’t trust these contracts, called purchase power agreements, because they locked in rates at current prices, which wouldn’t build fiscal sense if solar costs keep falling, as they are predicted to. “[ Investors] considered purchase power agreements for consumers to be the equivalent of subprime loans, ” Levine said. “I think it was a totally stupid bargain to do Vivint and it made everyone question SunEdison.”

As a result of the Vivint deal, investors soured on the company’s yieldcos and their stock prices, along with SunEdison’s, started dropping. That meant that the yieldcos couldn’t raise more money to buy more assets from SunEdison. Worse, SunEdison had to delay its financial report because of accounting questions, so the company, already deeply in debt, couldn’t borrow more fund. The carefully laid fiscal structure lacked what was necessary for it to work: new cash flowing in.

When financing dried up, SunEdison’s merely alternative was to sell its assets to other companies, like utilities. But Zino said there had been limited asset marketings since the company last reported in November. “We’re at a point now where if they haven’t been able to generate money via those assets marketings, and you can’t tap the equity marketplaces and you can’t tap the debt markets, there’s really no other means to generate money, ” the S& P analyst told. Zino thinks that could be because SunEdison’s projects aren’t as good as the company says or because buyers know they are in difficulty and is negotiating to get lower prices.

Now the company, by their own admission, may file for bankruptcy protection. Zino , noting that strong growth in renewable energy last year, considers a bright place for other big solar companies: They now have a chance to buy up projects from a competitor at a discount.

SunEdison did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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[vdperuvian]

Mmmm, *THAT* face! Geo looks a little more mad than confused, and that guy next to him and the guy and the lower-left corner should become memes...

[lifegoddessofearth]

This is a cool website where you can see how much you could save by installing solar and how much upfront cost there would be for the project.  If I had a house I would definitely be considering this.

[genesisnanotech]

Home Solar Power Discounts Are Worker Perk in New Program

Expanding the notion of corporate benefits beyond discounted health club memberships and low insurance rates, a group of major companies is set to offer employees access to cheaper solar systems for the home.

Under an arrangement announced Wednesday, employees of the companies — Cisco Systems, 3M, Kimberly-Clarkand National Geographic — will be able to buy or lease solar systems for their homes…

[crowdfundingprcampaigns]

#Equity #Crowdfunding Site, ReturnonChange.com, Raises $1 Million to #Finance #Solar #Rooftop #Installations Geostellar, a leading online solar rooftop marketplace successfully raises $1 million round of funding on Return on Change, an online investment platform based in New York…

[geostellar]

Solar Santa says...

[vdperuvian]

Awkward friendships. This all happens right in front of Geo by the way, so no-wonder Sonia has to put on her awkward face! From Episode 11 of MegaMan Star Force: Tribe (NOW I know these episodes!)

[geostellar]

The North Pole is melting and you can help Solar Santa!!!

[landisconstruction-blog]

YOU'RE INVITED: See ENERGY in a whole NEW LIGHT (TM)

Geostellar, Kenergy Solar and Landis Construction wish to bask in your brilliance and brightness as we officially BRING HOME THE SUN to Washington, DC.

Turn up the music, enjoy great food and drink and join the passionate in ushering in a new era!

Witness history in the making as Geostellar applies deep science to illuminate the value of the sunshine that falls on your roof every day. Our platform will GO LIVE in greater Metro Washington, demonstrating its power in the company of civic and community leaders and individuals who are leading the charge.

The Power is Yours! (TM)

When: Thursday, September 6, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)

Where: Landis Construction Corporation

PLEASE RSVP: On the Eventbrite Website

Co-Sponsored by: Landis Construction Corporation and KENERGY Solar