Here comes the sun

Sunshine may not be abundant on a year-round basis, but that isn’t stopping those in New York and New Jersey from installing solar panels. While tiny little solar panels can (sort of) light the pathways to your home, larger ones can run your hot water or even your laptop.

Nevertheless, experts say “size matters” and those with the biggest roofs are getting the biggest electric bang for their bucks. That’s why big box retailers like Wal-Mart are in the forefront of installing solar arrays.

New Jersey is also helping the solar charge by providing big credits for big megawatt generation while the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has a paltry 50 kilowatt limit that’s truly limiting the number of buildings taking the state up on its offer.

Zandy Mangold

The Visionaire (70 West St.) uses photovoltaic cells installed by the Albanese Organization.

In New York, the average cost per watt ranges from $6 to as high as $9 per watt, says Rob Ragozine, president, Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services. The 50kW system would cost around $300,000 to $450,000, he says. But in a market like New Jersey, it brings the price to under $5 per watt. “More competition and larger systems allow the economics to be better,” says Ragozine.

It would take about five years to get the payback in New York for a 50kW system but less time in New Jersey. The variable, he says, is the value of what is called an “SREC,” a solar renewable energy certificate that can be sold from state to state and is generally purchased by utilities that have to show a certain amount of energy created by renewable resources.

Unfortunately, a New York certificate is not as valuable as one from New Jersey because of the larger systems. And NYSERDA may provide a rebate, but it takes ownership of the SREC.

Some real estate owners avoid putting up the equity for installation by simply leasing out their roofs to solar companies. The solar companies handle the installations and keep all the rebates and tax credits while the owner gets lower priced electricity.

According to Lydon Rive, CEO of Solar City, which has 1,100 employees in 10 states serving 12,000 customers, a typical house installation could cost $20,000 while larger warehouses can run $2 million. Instead of the customer buying the equipment, Solar City makes the investment and owns the solar array. “It’s an amazing value proposition” explained Rive. “If you are paying 15 cents per kilowatt hour and we offer it to you for 13 cents, you are saving money and using clean power at no cost.”

Still, Rive said they turn down about 40 percent of the jobs they are offered because solar power does not make economic sense for the building or the location. Tall high rises do not now work well, he said.