PV buydown policy request [RE-wrenches]

[Bob Maynard, Energy Outfitters]

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Hi Allan,

Oregon's upfront rebate program is now about a year old and many lessons have been learned.  We originally argued for a production credit program for all the obvious reasons.  In the end the decision was upfront rebates.  Now a year old, the program has sold out twice, driven by a couple of aggressive sales companies pre-selling lots of systems and reserving the funds.  These companies typically sold 3 kw res. systems for $6.50/watt installed, made little money, and may not be around long enough to honor the warranties!  The program managers now realize the negative impact on the program and the industry and are beginning to discuss the "new " idea of production credits.

While upfront rebates get things moving much faster, it doesn't encourage sustainable business models, systems designed with performance in mind first, and customer involvement.  A production credit of $.40-.50 per kwh with an 8-10 year contract combined with a no-low interest loan program is right in my opinion.  The production credit should pay 50-60% of the loan payments.

The Oregon program has regional inspectors that visit the installation after the local inspector is done.  This has worked to some degree, but has been expensive, inconsistancy in standards between inspectors has been a problem, and now they are talking about "an inspectors" inspector!  With production credits this waste of precious program $'s could be eliminated.  Just put a utility grade meter on the output of the inverter, and a once a year reading, and thats it!

Other than the legal requirements, possibly look at NAABCEP certified installers being able to offer an extra $.05-.10 per kwh kicker.  Production credits drive the demand for expertly designed and installed systems.

My 2 cents!

Regards,
Bob Maynard
Energy Outfitters

Fellow Wrenches,
New Mexico is exploring some PV buydown options. As I understand it, this is
not a state government-funded buydown, but a program to allow the regulated
utilities to purchase the right to claim distributed, customer-owned PV
toward the mandated Renewable Portfolio Standard.

I need help with a few questions, from others who have been through this:

1. Should a utility PV buydown be production-based or based on an upfront
rebate (such as a flat $4/watt rebate for systems meeting certain
requirements)? It seems to me that production-based will promote higher
quality installations (thus giving my business a competitive edge) over some
type of formula based on nameplate rating. How is this done in Europe, where
incentives are mostly production-based?

2. What type of technical system requirements should be imposed, and how,
when, how often, and by whom should systems be inspected?

3. What requirements should be placed on installers?

There are more questions, but these will help me offer well-reasoned
suggestions.  Thank you in advance.

Allan at Positive Energy

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