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Shawna Henderson writes:
This page is for discussion of how Solar Nova Scotia and strategic partners can promote and lobby for a provincial solar thermal leasing program for homeowners, so they don't have the up-front costs yet reap the benefits. Some of the solar thermal folks offer leases, but it's obviously based on approved financing, which limits the availability to those who have good credit. For those who really need it, at the low end of the income scale, a provincially-backed program would help make it more accessible.
Of course, the overarching goal is to bring the market up to a size where the system costs go down.
Connecticut Inaugurates Solar Program For Homeowners: text here and here and here.
Shawna writes: I could see EAC, Clean NS and Solar NS join forces to 'lobby' and promote this type of a program, with the backing of the industry partners here. It could be run through an existing CEDIF with a renewables mandate (like Scotian Windfields, eh?), and then any biz tax incentives are captured. Certainly Conserve NS would have a ready ear, although the final decision at the provincial level...
Perhaps credit union would be interested in the financing end of it? Other financial institutions might surprise us...
ever the optimist...
Shawna
Solar Water Heater Push Across British Columbia. Text here and here.
Derek:
Absolutely, as one who started with PV - because I had to - I spend a lot of time telling people that they really don't want to add PV to their grid-attached home when they could get so much more for their money with thermal.
Aaron writes:
I know of one program being started in the US where you pay for a solar system through your property taxes over 20 yrs. This way you don't have to worry about recouping the installed costs in the case you move 2 years down the road, the next home owner would take on the payments. As well you don't have to come up with the capital costs. This could be setup for low income households as well. More information here.
Scotian Windfields has been working on a "Solar Utility" called 1st STEP (Solar Thermal Energy Provider). With this program, you sign a long term contract to buy solar thermal heat (usually fixed at the current energy price) from the provider, Scotian would then buy the solar thermal system and install it on your building and maintain it over the term of the contract. Typically systems have to be 25 or more collectors to make it worthwhile for them. There are at least two other companies successfully doing this in Canada already.
Shawna writes:
So, while 1st STEP wouldn't work for individual homeowners b/c of the minimum number of collectors, it could work for a set of rowhouses or a big condo/strata title development , and the hot water generated could concievably be piped to the individual units, who could apply as a co-op or have the solar thermal system included in a condo agreement.
Tying this into new developments, esp. the co-housing groups that are in the works could make it completely feasible to go to a higher solar thermal capacity for space and water heating on a small 'district' system. WOuld be interesting to engage Dave Stewart in a discussion about how this impacts the costs of a seasonal energy storage system. Certainly opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities to tie geothermal and solar together in small community systems.