Colorado Solar Incentives Reduced

In addition to the (eventually expected) blow from reduction in Xcel's solar incentive, the news apparently came as a sudden announcement to the industry. It'd have been nice if there could have been a couple of weeks of advance notice.

The solar industry must organize itself for greater efficiency. Think! What are your costs? How can you reduce them?

I agree, with B Nicholson, thinking is required to maintain existence. It seems strange that the 2 obvious questions he poses are not being considered currently...

The questions raised by B Nicholson indicate a lack of knowledge of the industry in Colorado.

At present it IS organized by the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (CoSEIA), which is dominated by small businesses installing small (under 10 kW) systems. The only way we can reduce costs is to become large businesses, with their economies of scale. Few of us care to take that step.

I suppose we could form a buyer's coop, but that might take more than this herd of cats can accomplish in time to make a difference to the industry in 2009.

We (CoSEIA members) have been preparing for the inevitable reduction of the REC payments from Xcel, but had expected a bit more than 30 hours notice. Xcel had informally agreed to 90 days. So much for honesty in negotiation.

B Nicholson I could not agree more.
Three, out of dozens of issues we need to address

1.How about an Industry revolt against the insane requirements (re: locking MC's better known as a step backwards) placed on installations by PE's who follow like sheep the insane codes,both structural and electrical. Most are not based on good engineering but on tyrannical anal fear better know as CYA. Enough concrete and steel (think embedded energy) to build a skyscraper just to mount some modules? Dollar here and dollar there and soon you're talking huge excessive costs. The biggest anal fear mongers? John and Bill give you a hint? WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

2.Our industry is seeing installations become more and more boutique like. (re: locking MC's. Prime example among many) Let's get real and quit building to be cute. It's raw power and industrial. Let's build it as such. You guys in the business know what I mean.

3. Don't install PV in any facility that refuses to first upgrade on the demand side. Let's quit "peeing in the ocean" and ensure that installations actually have real impact on overall power demand. Let's get real.

Many other problems. So little space. So little time.

SunPower, in California, offers discounts to homeowners who organize a number of installations in their neighborhoods.

Is Sun-Tech in Colorado? Their website rocks, and maybe they would do a discount program also.

If you favor one brand over the other, send your prospective customers to the one that seems best.

What I hear in Portland is that installation is far out from when a purchaser decides. Is that true in CO?

Some California companies, like Hewlett-Packard, offer incentives to employees for placing PV systems. Some big employers might do this in Colorado.

Parking money in the stock market is not seeming like a perfect option right now.

Finding people who would rather park money on their roofs could be promoted by doing educational talks on public radio and TV. For radio, drive-time is especially good.

Having power if the grid goes down provides a lot of value. Do most systems you install have some battery storage as well as feeding in?

When I visited my uncle in D.C. the power went down on a hot night, and a group of neighborhood men fired up a generator to keep the street lights on. They were having a good 'ol time.

Battery storage is mandatory in an Earthship colony in Taos, and it is recommended where outages recur, even without solar.

As for coop-buying, many law firms have new hires who will do pro bono.

If Colorado coop law is not optimum, a big-firm pro bono project might get you there with a my-uncle-needs-this special dispensation from the legislature.

You sure have to watch out what you pray for.

Too much deviation from market with incentives has a down side: blooming only to have your your knees cut off. Big power companies are good at this.

The top-down nature of big corporations gives them strategic institutional memories. They subsidized Prohibition to stop alcohol, e.g.

Your coop would do well to have a historian as well as a futurist.

Mary --

Thanks for your good ideas. In order:

Coloradans do a lot of business with SunPower; getting in touch with them would be a good idea.

No Sun-Tech here (that I know of).

Installation is NOT far out in CO, unless there's a shortage of panels. We can get a customer from site visit to commission in about a month or 6 weeks.

Approaching large corporate employers for incentives might be something CoSEIA could do. They have already done a lot of public education; more is always a good thing.

Few grid-tied systems here have battery back-up. A bad winter with lots of power outages could change that.

Thank you for the suggestions regarding legal help in establishing a coop. Considering that I only thought of that option today, and have discussed it only here, we're a little premature. But if that's an option CoSEIA wants to address, they already have a couple of lawyers working on solar issues already.

You've given me a lot of food for thought! Thanks so much.