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Solar systems can mean hot business savings

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Patricia Bathurst

Special for the ABG

Say the words "solar electricity" to a growing number of Arizona businesses, and you'll likely get one response: "No brainer."

Falling prices, tax incentives and a sense of environmental stewardship are taking solar-power systems from a fringe product into the mainstream, and the trend is only going to spread, industry experts said.

"People put solar systems on their buildings because it makes bottom-line sense," said Lynn Paige, president of Phoenix-based Perfect Power Inc., which designs, builds and installs solar-power systems.

Both APS and SRP also offer incentives to businesses installing solar systems, including buying back excess power generated by consumers. Rates are currently pegged at around $2.50 or $3 per kilowatt/hour generated for solar systems, around 50 cents for solar water-heating systems, with payments capped at $500,000 per system.

APS also has a different set of incentives and rebates for commercial customers who install a solar air-conditioning system.

Still, for many small-business owners, "making that first investment can be hard," said Lori Singleton, manager of environmental initiatives for SRP. "I'm optimistic, but I do recognize that the cost needs to decrease. Still, the technological possibilities combined with ongoing incentives should help make the price of design and installation more appealing."

Optima Inc. is one of the first builders in metro Phoenix to incorporate solar power into mixed-used developments in a systematic way. Biltmore Towers, near 24th Street and Camelback, and CamelView Village, just west of Scottsdale Fashion Park, both have integrated solar systems.

LEED certification

"It makes a lot of sense to me," said David Hovey, founder and principal architect of the Chicago-based company. "As a company, we are trying to design and build the highest-quality construction we can think of."

CamelView's system is being designed to get LEED certification. Ratings for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, defined by the U.S. Green Building Council, are based on goals in six areas, including points for energy use/consumption.

Although the system at CamelView is traditional in design, Biltmore Towers' system is not only fully integrated, it isn't immediately recognizable as a solar system, instead resembling an array of rooftop ramadas.

Driving down costs

It's total cost? Not quite $147,000, and it provides energy and helps drive down costs for all the public spaces at the mixed commercial and residential high-rise.

"Businesses adding solar will play a significant role in the energy demands of a growing Arizona," said David Drennon, a Department of Commerce spokesman.

"The current roof space available in commercial buildings for photovoltaic installations is around 60 percent of (metro Phoenix's) total roof area.

"Not considering economics, the rooftop area available for commercial-building PV could support about seven gigawatts of installations in 2025."

That's about 7 billion watts, a lot of space available for the one natural resource Arizona won't run out of.

State mandates

Additionally, this year, the Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2491, which mandates that 15 percent of the state's electricity come from renewable sources by 2015 and significantly improved solar tax credits for businesses, allowing any non-residential facility to file for the credits. The Department of Commerce administers the tax-rebate program and actively works with businesses through the certification process.

Tax credits from the state can now reach $25,000 for one building in a single year, though total tax credits are capped at $50,000 per business per tax year.

The agency is completing new rules for the Commercial Solar Energy Tax Credit Program.

"On the very day you turn it on," Paige said, "you create watts of energy - and you do that every single day. It's a kind of exponential return."

She pointed out that the Internal Revenue Service allows an accelerated depreciation schedule that is weighted, so the entire cost of a new solar system is allowed over five years.

That's in addition to the off-the-top 30 percent credit allowed on the system's price tag.

Hovey is a firm believer that solar power adds value to buildings.

"Why solar? When there's an opportunity to create a system to reduce energy use, you might as well," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/green/articl...-solar0816.html

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I thought this was going to be about astronomy :unsure:

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