The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program allows businesses to obtain financing for clean energy programs such as the installation of solar energy. It isn’t available everywhere, but you can find out which areas have PACE programs by checking this map.What are the financial benefits of PACE? The financing you get through the PACE program can cover the full cost of your solar energy installation, but you have to pay back the amount over 20 years as an addition to your property tax bill. How does this benefit you financially? Supposing your 110 KW solar energy system costs you $100,000 to install. Your solar energy plant will produce between 150,000 and 180,000 kWH every year. Let’s crunch these numbers:
- Financing received: $100,000
- Value of electricity generated: $15,000 - $18,000 per year.
- Annual repayment over 20 years (varies depending on interest rate) approximately: $8,946.84.
- PLUS 30% tax rebate for the first year – we’ll choose the lowest likely figure as $30,000
Note that the electricity generated already exceeds your annual repayment figure, plus you get the tax rebate. The bottom line? Extra money in the bank! You get a nice bonus through your tax credits during the first year, and thereafter, you get more value from your electricity generation than you spend on the repayments. And of course, if you didn’t have the solar energy set-up you’d be paying for the electricity you need – now you can eliminate that expense altogether. Whichever way you look at it you get a positive cash-flow benefit. Last, but by no means least, the PACE financed installation is linked to the property and not to you. So if you sell the property, the repayments are no longer your responsibility. Are there other business benefits? Exercise your business brains to get the most out of your solar energy installation. ‘Green’ business practices are a hugely powerful marketing tool if you leverage them properly. You can apply for a formal ‘Green Business’ certification and use it in your marketing programs, on your letterheads and on product labelling. This will allow you to corner more of the market, particularly if your competitors aren’t as wide awake as you are. And you can get away with charging higher prices. Studies have found that consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products. So apart from the direct savings that solar energy brings with it, you also enhance your reputation and even increase your sales and market share without cutting profit margins to the bone. But is solar energy reliable? Obviously, the last thing you want to do is to compromise your business operations by investing in an unreliable power source, but solar energy is extremely reliable, works when the grid is down, protects you against increases in energy prices and doesn’t require much maintenance. Choose a grid-tied system and any deficit in energy requirements can be accessed from the grid. All in all, choosing solar energy makes sense, and the PACE program means that you don’t even have to raise the capital that’s needed to pay for the installation costs. Get a solar pro to help you Applying for any type of government funding can be a headache, but a solar energy professional can give you a full consultation and cost-benefit analysis, and you can get all the advice you need in order to take advantage of incentives and funding. Would you like to know if Solar Panels are the right investment for your home or business? Let us create a free, fully customized proposal for you. Within our proposal, we will provide you all of the information you need to make an informed decision! Call us at 1855-60-1SOLAR (601-7652) or visit our site at www.1SolarSolution.com
