Small Commercial Solar: Growing Your Business With This Untapped Sector

#SolarWebinar

Small Commercial Solar: Growing Your Business with

this Untapped Sector

#SolarWebinar

q  This webinar will be available afterwards at solarpowerworldonline.com & email

q  Q&A at the end of the presentation q  Hashtag for this webinar: #SolarWebinar

Before We Start

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Steven Bushong Editor - Moderator Solar Power World

Josh Baston Project Supervisor Revision Energy

Chris Fraga Founder & CEO

SolarSense

Small Commercial Solar: Growing Your Business with This Untapped Sector

Meet the Presenters

Doug MacDonald Project Enginner

AllEarth Renewables

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FinancingC&ISolarProjects

ChrisFragaSolarSense

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TheGoodNews:•  C&Iisprojectedtobethe“hot”growthmarket

sector•  Rich/largescalemarketspace

TheBadNews:•  C&Ihasa;ractedhundredsofcompe??vefirms•  Thebasicsma;ermorethanever

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•  WouldIinvest$500,000-$2,000,000ofmy(own,family’s)personalre?rementsavingsinthisproject?

•  Ifso:Highprobabilityoffinancingsuccess

•  Ifnot:Fixtheissues,or,bepreparedforno

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TheBasicsMa=er1.  Beclear&realis?cwiththetypeoffinancingyouseek

2.  Overallquality/designoftheProject:SolarPVproducts,services&siteviability

3.  Strength&viabilityofthe:•  Hostcustomeroff-taker:likelihoodofopera?ons

for25yrs?•  Developer/EPC•  State’sincen?vestructure

4.  Theprojectfinancialproformamodel

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Capital/StructureYouSeek? UsesofCapital/Details

Developmentfinancing

•  Pre-NTPac?vi?es&costs•  Developmentteamexpenses•  Sitedesigns•  Permiang•  Interconnec?onsubmi;alprocess

Construc?onfinancing •  Productprocurement&carryingcosts•  Siteprepara?on•  Physicalconstruc?on•  Formalinterconnec?on

ProjectAssetSale/PurchaseProjectCo.MIPA

•  @NTP?•  @COD?

Debt •  Term•  Rate•  Amor?za?on•  DebtServiceCoverageRa?o

Equity/TaxEquity •  Structureofinvestment:•  Saleleaseback?•  PartnershipFlip?•  Other

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TheEssenHalFinancingDocs

1.  TheProject:•  SolarPVdesign/systemoutputsummary•  Productselec?on,cutsheets&warran?es•  Timeline/realis?cstatus&capital

?meline

2.  Sitecontroldocument(lease,license,easement)

3.  PPAwithfinanceableterms

4.  Hostcustomer&Developer/EPCinfo:•  Narra?ve/summaryofbusinessquals•  (3)threeyearsfinancialstatements&

CPA/Auditorpreparedtaxreturns

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TopPPA“Challenges”1.  “Floa?ng”PPArate

–  %discountPPAratevs.u?litypricing

2.  NoannualPPArateincrease

3.  Noearlytermina?onvalues,par?cularlyforonpremisesystems

4.  Thecontractriskisontheinvestor/financier–customer“cannottakeanyrisk”

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TopFinancing“Challenges”1.  Sub-parproductselec?ontomakeEPC

costswork

2.  Unrealis?cdeveloper/EPCexpecta?onsonstructure/terms:

•  %ofdebt•  Developer%carryindeal

3.  InflatedSRECvalueswhicharenotcontracted

4.  Unrealis?c?mingexpecta?onsonfinancingclose

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ScaleResidenHalSolarintoSmallCommercialJoshBaston

RevisionEnergy

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ForasmallerresidenHalcompany,makingtheleapintosmallcommercialcansomeHmesbe

inHmidaHng.

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ClientAcquisiHon•  Longtermrela?onship

building,thelongview•  Iden?fyingbenefits

beyondjustbuildingthesolararray.

•  Walkthewalkwithhowyourcompanyacts.AtReVisionwehavebecomeacer?fiedB-Corp

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ProjectExample:MaineAudubon•  Smallcommercialinstallconsis?ngof6trackers

•  DifficultPermiang•  Keytohaveanallywhomyoucangetexcitedabouttheprojectandhelppushthroughroadblocks

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Challenges•  Geangbusinessestolookpasta3-4yearROI•  Lackofincen?vesputsmoreemphasisonrela?onshipbuilding

•  Geangbusinessestoseesolaraspartofbeingacontribu?ngmemberofthegrowingsustainablecommunity

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ScalableSolar•  Movingintosmallcommercial

canbeanaturalgrowthopportunityforasmallercompany

•  Installascalableproduct:somethingyouareusedtoinstallingbutjustinstallingmoreofonalargerscale.S?ckwithstringinvertersandjustdomoreofthem.

•  Easiertomobilizeforsmallcommercialvslargecommercial/u?lityscale

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TipsforKeepingCostsinCheck•  Forprojectsunder75kWorconnec?ngtocommercial

buildings,240Vor208Vservicescansaveinequipmentcosts.Forlargerprojects480/277V3-phaseservicesmakemoreeconomicsense.

•  Preplan,haveaprojectmanagerandelectricianwalkthroughtheprojectandorderequipmentpriortothemobiliza?onoftheen?reteam,haveagoodlistoftaskstobedonesothatwhenroadblocksareencounteredinstallerscanbere-deployedontosomethingelseanddon’tgetleqstandingaround.

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WhyChooseAER•  Veryscalablebothintermsofplanningforthecurrent

installandforplanningforfutureexpansion•  Thetrackerisveryterrainadaptablewhereyoucandeal

withrollingfieldsandledgewhichmayprovechallengingtotradi?onalgroundmounts.

•  Onepalletshippingmakesiteasybothtostoreandtodeployon-site

•  Trackersarebothaesthe?callypleasingandexci?ngwhichmakethemagreatselltocustomerswhoaretyingtogetmarke?ngvalueinaddi?ontoelectricityproduc?onvalue.

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CommercialSolarProject

DevelopmentDougMacDonald,AllEarth

Renewables

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SmallCommercialProjectscanbeSimpleandminimizetheBalanceofSystemcosts.

•  Upto75kWsinglephaseorupto250kWthreephaseprojectscaneasilybedesignedusinginexpensive200Aswitchinggearand320Aselfcontainedmetering.

•  Trackerfarmsinthisscale,connectto(2)200Acombinerloadcenters,thenbackfeeda320Ametersocket.Polemountedtransformersaddtothesimplicityandcostsavings.

•  Savesindevelopmentandconstruc?oncosts.

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BigbenefitstousingAllEarthSolarTrackersforcommercialprojects

•  TrackerProjectsaremodularand

easilyscalable.•  BecausetheDCdesignisprecooked

intothetracker,designingalargertrackerprojectisaseasyasdesigningaparkinglotligh?ngsystem.

•  ACdesigncaneasilybedrawnupinonedaybyanymasterelectrician.

•  InverterACcapacitydrivesthedesign.

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•  Largerprojects=largerreturns–u?lizeeconomiesofscaleandefficientandrepeatabledevelopmentandpermiangprocesses

•  StandardizingandstreamliningtheEPCanddevelopmentprocesswillfurtherincreasereturns.

•  Documentstandardiza?oncri?calbothforfinanceabilityandcostsavings

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SiHngConsideraHons

•  MinimizeShading•  Digreadiness(trees/brush)

•  Treeandbrushremovaliscostlyandhasmoreenvironmentalimpact.•  Choseopensites.

•  Interconnectproximity•  Whendealingwithlongerwireruns,3phaseisalwaysbe;erthansinglephasefromboth

u?lityandprojectperspec?ves•  Anyprojectover150kW,3phisrequired

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So\wareweuseatAER

•  AutoCAD•  UsedforElectricaldrawingsandSitelayoutdrawings•  AutoCADMapsvsAutoCADLT–bothwork

•  GoogleEARTHPro-Nowfreetogeneralpublic•  Greattoolforini?alsiteinves?ga?on-helpfulforlandareacalcula?ons•  KMLfiles–polygonsandpolylinesofusableprojectareas.•  Goodforiden?fyingnaturalresources,wetlands,treecover,historicalimagery,Interconnec?onloca?on.Usestreetviewto

seepoles,threephasevssinglephase,etc.

•  SolidWorks•  Usedforstandardizedequipmentlayouts,pedestals,conduitlayouts

•  ToolstoidenHfyandmodelshading:•  SunEye•  PVWa;s,SystemAdvisor,PVSyst•  HeyWhat’sThat(heywhatsthat.com)

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EfficientInstalla?on•  Seekrepeatableprocess

–  ManageEPCprocess–  Onecontractorcandoitall.–  Followleanprinciples

Example:HelicalPileBaseSimplybaseinstalla?onInstall20-30basesperdaypermachine.

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CableInConduit–  3or4insulatedconductorspreinstalledinsideofHDPEconduit.–  Handlingandinstalla?ongreatlysimplified–  Withfewexcep?onsusesamewiresizesforALLinstalla?ons–  Simpletransi?ontoabovegroundatbothtrackerandACcombinerpanel–  Reelscomeat5000’andfitonastandardspooltrailer

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ElectricalOnelineExample,500kW3phase

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SitePlanExample,150kWWyman

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StateofVermont–500kWeach

ProjectNote:AfixedratePPAandbundledprojectsacrossnearly20stategovernmentu?lityaccountswillsavetaxpayersmorethan$2,500,000overtheini?altermwithnocostandnofinancialrisk.U?lizingvirtualnetmeteringpolicyforoff-siteprojectsi?ng.

StateGovernment:Correc?onalFacili?esandStateOfficesSizeofSystems:500kWDesireforSolar:Guaranteedbudgetsavings/InlinewithstateenergygoalsProjectStructure:20-YearPPAwith7-yearbuy-outop?onHowsecuredcustomeragreement:RFPandguaranteedsavingsoffered(fixedratePPAvs.floa?ng/indexedPPA)

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2.2MW,ClaireSolar

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Steven Bushong Editor - Moderator Solar Power World [email protected]

Josh Baston Project Supervisor Revision Energy [email protected]

Chris Fraga Founder & CEO SolarSense [email protected]

Small Commercial Solar: Growing Your Business with This Untapped Sector

Questions?

Doug MacDonald Project Engineer AllEarth Renewables [email protected]

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Thank You q  This webinar will be available at

solarpowerworldonline.com & email

q  Tweet with hashtag #SolarWebinar

q  Connect with Solar Power World

q  Discuss this on EngineeringExchange.com

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