Financing Solar Schools Latest Trend for Investors, Corporations
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 04.30.07
Well it’s certainly true that since the early 1990s there have been schools across the U.S. installing solar roofs for any number of reasons... Including the educational, financial and environmental rewards that come with a solar system, and make them community learning centers for clean energy technology while saving a buck and making a difference at the same time. But now there’s word that schools have become the latest way for investors themselves to turn a profit, with companies like GE Energy Financial investing in schools solar power by providing a unique financial structure that enables school districts to more easily obtain them. By bringing in a third-party financier, the district winds up paying no upfront costs for the installation of the solar roofs. This is key, because as anyone who has spent time managing a school district can tell you, getting a bond passed for any project can be really tough… So instead the district leases the panels themselves for $1 and pays a monthly energy bill on a fixed rate to the financier. Let’s do the math… No Upfront Costs + Fixed Rate = No Bond. Now that’s an equation that makes school districts see green in more ways than one! And as Randall MacEwen, president and chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based Solar Integrated Technologies Inc. puts it, “There’s an enormous growth in this type of structured financing for solar projects,” because… “Basically, you move the cost for the end user so instead of having a large upfront capital cost, they have an annual operating cost put into their budget. … Structured financing allows us to access that customer base that wants a solar system but doesn’t have the resources or the ability to take advantage of the tax attributes.” It seems to me like this is a terrific financial tool to help schools go green and educate the community while working to protect it at the same time…
