Vivint Solar Inc. – Vivint Solar Announces Availability of Solar Leases in Florida

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LEHI, Utah, Aug. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Vivint Solar, Inc. (NYSE: VSLR), a leading full-service residential solar provider, today announced the Florida Public Service Commission has approved its solar lease product proposal, allowing homeowners in Florida to install solar panels from Vivint Solar for no money down and get guaranteed solar production.

Solar leases from Vivint Solar will be immediately available in the St. Petersburg and Orlando areas. New Vivint Solar customers in other markets in Florida may also have the option to qualify for a solar lease.

“We appreciate the commission for clarifying its position and removing any stumbling blocks to the expansion of customer choice for solar power in Florida,” said Vivint Solar CEO David Bywater. “Our solar lease product allows many more customers to benefit from clean, renewable energy, and we are excited that our new Sunshine State customers can adopt solar at zero down for the first time.”

Under a lease agreement, Vivint Solar designs and installs a solar energy system for no upfront cost. The company provides clean, efficient energy from the abundant Florida sunshine to customers, who pay a fixed monthly amount, which provides most customers with overall energy cost savings compared to their local utility. On average, Vivint Solar customers across the United States save up to 20 percent with Vivint Solar’s leases relative to their current utility rates.

Vivint Solar takes care of all necessary permitting and paperwork and customers have no maintenance responsibility for the system.

Vivint Solar expanded into Florida in 2016. The availability of leases provides more flexible options to go solar for Florida homeowners, who can also purchase a system from Vivint Solar outright or finance the purchase with monthly payments through one of the institutions Vivint Solar has relationships with, or through their preferred lender.

For more information, visit www.vivintsolar.com/state/florida.

About Vivint Solar 

Vivint Solar is a leading full-service residential solar provider in the United States. With Vivint Solar, customers can power their homes with clean, renewable energy and typically achieve significant financial savings over time. Offering integrated residential solar solutions, Vivint Solar designs and installs the solar energy systems for its customers and offers monitoring and maintenance services. In addition to being able to purchase a solar energy system outright, customers may benefit from Vivint Solar’s affordable, flexible financing options, power purchase agreements, or lease agreements, where available. For more information, visit www.vivintsolar.com or follow @VivintSolar on Twitter.

Press Contact

Vivint Solar

Helen Langan
Senior Director of Communications 
385-202-6577
pr@vivintsolar.com

 

Cision View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vivint-solar-announces-availability-of-solar-leases-in-florida-300701073.html

SOURCE Vivint Solar



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Macquarie unit buys Conergy solar energy portfolio

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Green Investment Group Ltd. (GIG), part of Macquarie Capital, has acquired the solar portfolio of Conergy Asia & ME Pte Ltd., including the latter’s operations in the Philippines.

In a statement, London-based GIG said the acquisition covered Singapore-based Conergy’s portfolio of solar development assets in the Asia Pacific region, including commercial, technical and energy storage capabilities as well as an asset monitoring center in the Philippines.

GIG said it was welcoming on board 88 solar experts spread out across the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Japan and Germany.

This team of professionals comes with extensive experience in developing 2,000 megawatts of solar energy projects worldwide, including 500 MW in the Asia Pacific.

“This acquisition underscores our ambition for [GIG] to advance its position as a world-leading developer and investor in green energy projects in Asia and globally—across offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, waste to energy, battery storage and energy efficiency,” said Daniel Wong, global co-head of infrastructure and energy at Macquarie Capital.

Conergy chief operating officer Marc Lohoff said in the statement that Conergy has long been viewed as a leader in the development, construction and operation of solar projects.

In late 2017, Conergy Asia & ME said it had ramped up its operations and maintenance (O&M) services unit in the region to help solar farms in the Philippines raise their profits as it observed waning productivity among operators in Southeast Asia.

In light of this, Conergy invested in building an Asia-Pacific monitoring center in Manila, upgraded software used for round-the-clock monitoring of solar farm performance, and added headcount to the O&M units serving the Philippines and the region.

The Singapore-based firm said its O&M unit now specializes in helping operators of existing solar farm maximize every kilowatt of energy potential from solar farm investments.

According to Conergy, common flaws in solar farm operations include a lack of real time data analytics, slow repair times, and unavailability of spare parts.

Solar farms are also beset by insufficient skills of technicians that delays proper identification and troubleshooting of plant faults, overgrown vegetation and panels that are too soiled to maximize exposure.

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Recommendation to approve Columbia Solar project hear to Governor’s desk

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OLYMPIA, Wash. –  A new solar project could that could power thousands of homes could soon be built in central Washington.

Wednesday the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council finalized its recommendation to approve a 25-megawatt solar project and delivered its recommendation to Governor Jay Inslee.  

In October 2017, TUUSSO Energy applied for a site certification agreement from EFSEC to construct and operate five solar arrays and two generation tie lines in Kittitas County, WA.

Collectively the installations would span 200 acres of leased land and are known as the Columbia Solar project. Each new solar array would be capable of providing up to 5 megawatts of solar energy within the Puget Sound Energy service area, for a total of 25 megawatts of electrical power generation.

According to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, as of 2017, the average residential electricity customer in the Northwest uses about 11 megawatt-hours per year.  At 11 megawatt-hours per year per average household, on a regional basis, one average megawatt is enough to power 796.36 Northwest homes for a year.

Once the report and supporting documents are delivered to Gov. Inslee, he has 60 days to issue a final decision.

 



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Denton ups solar ante | News

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Denton Municipal Electric is boosting next year’s budget for Green Sense, an energy conservation rebate program that will include a bigger — and more strategic — pot of money to subsidize rooftop solar power.

City staff proposed allocating about $860,000 to the program, with $500,000 going to subsidize solar panels on Denton homes and businesses. Council members agreed to the program changes this week as part of ongoing budget talks. The remaining program funds will pay for other rebates and energy audits.

Rooftop solar is driving some of the program’s growth, but people lined up the most last year for help paying for more efficient air conditioners, according to city spokeswoman Jessica Rogers.

A total of 134 Denton households shared $50,600 in rebates for new heating and air-conditioning systems for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Another 66 households and one business maxed out the city’s $300,000 rooftop solar rebate budget. Those solar panel installations brought 443 kilowatts to the local grid.

From 2014-16, the city held the line at $180,000 each year for solar rebates. To respond to increasing demand, the council increased the allocation to $200,000 in 2017 and $300,000 in 2018.

The staff told the City Council that if the subsidies had been tiered, the city could have served 15 more households with this year’s budget.

The council agreed to tiered subsidies next year to help more property owners. The maximum rebate won’t change, but the city will limit the rate of rebate based on the size of the project and whether it is installed with battery storage.

Coming next year for the first time will also be a little help for do-it-yourself weatherizing, like caulking and weather stripping.

“Weatherization is something almost every home can use and, arguably, the most affordable upgrade a homeowner can do without hiring an expert,” Rogers wrote in an email.

A bead of caulk along the seam between the ceiling and the walls limits attic heat from leaking into the house. Weather stripping around doors and behind outlets and light switches can also keep winter warmth in and summer heat out.

Weatherization grants will max out at $50. Similar to the smart thermostat rebate, customers need only submit proof of purchase for the materials.

For the first time last year, the city offered incentives to people who bought electric vehicles in exchange for the promise they would charge them overnight at home. This year, new plug-in hybrid cars will also be eligible for that incentive.

Residents should review the Green Sense manual and program guidelines before planning a project to make sure it will be eligible for a rebate.

As of Aug. 13, the city still has about 47 percent of its rebate budget available for such projects as attic insulation, radiant barriers, solar screens, energy-efficient windows and HVAC systems, smart thermostats and duct work.

Additional guidance is available through free home energy audits. Call customer service at 940-349-8700 or visit https://bit.ly/2N8aV85 to schedule an audit.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881 and via Twitter at @phwolfeDRC.



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Seeing Solar Energy | DonorsChoose.org project by Mrs. Jones

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Take credit for your charitable giving! Check out your tax receipts

TODAY ONLY: When you support a classroom, your donation will receive a 50{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} boost from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


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This Solar-Powered Drone Keeps Flying as Long as the Sun Is Out

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Powering an aircraft with solar panels seems like an obvious choice — they’re up high with good sun exposure, and a continuous source of electricity would be incredibly beneficial for long flights. We’ve seen that concept implemented on gliders, which have the benefit of a large surface area and very efficient flight. Now, students from the National University of Singapore have built a drone that can fly with just solar power.

While solar-powered drones have been attempted in the past, most were only marginally successful. It takes a lot of energy to keep a drone in the air, and heavy solar panels just exacerbate the problem. Most drones that integrate solar panels simply use them for supplementary power. This new design, on the other hand, relies entirely on the solar panels, and can keep flying as long as the sun is out.

The key to the drone’s ability to fly with just power from the sun is in how light it is — the entire quadcopter weighs just 2.6 kg (5.7 lbs). The team was able to keep the weight down by building the frame from lightweight, but strong, carbon fiber. Because it receives all of its power from the solar panels, they were able to further reduce the weight by getting rid of heavy batteries altogether. It can be flown remotely like any other drone, and it’s also equipped with a GPS system so it can fly autonomously.

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Welcome to PV Power Tech

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Sarah Taylor

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Sarah Taylor is a Wind Power activist, based in Cleveland, Ohio (http://www.windustrious.org). Starting in 2006, she … Solar Energy: Subscribe Now.

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Welcome to PV Power Tech

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Grid Alternatives provides solar trainings to underserved communities

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WASHINGTON (Circa)– Solar panels are more than renewable sources of energy for participants in the GRID Alternatives program.

For Tazz Hunter, they are catalysts of change.

“The people that don’t want to be in the streets, it’s giving us a chance,” Hunter told Circa.

He’s 18 years old, but Hunter has been through unimaginable loss. On top of losing his mother and father, he’s been shot.

Hunter hopes the workforce development program, which teaches participants how to install solar panels on homes in the nation’s capital, will help him succeed in the wake of adversity.

“So this is just giving me the opportunity to change my life from the place I’m at, and change it,” he continued. “It can change everything for the better.”

GRID Alternatives is a nationwide training program that aims to increase the country’s commitment to solar energy while also providing job training to underserved youth. The nonprofit serves undeserved communities in California, Colorado, and several tribal areas.

The group trainings are pretty standardized across the country. In D.C., for example, eligible residents between 18 and 24 are able to learn about the innerworkings of solar industry through educational workshops and on-the-ground experiences. At the end of the training participants are able to earn skill-based certificates that will make finding a job in solar, or a related field, much easier.

“This program has, and I’ve seen it, the ability to transform lives.”

Taresa Lawrence, deputy director of the Energy Administration at the Department of Energy and the Environment

According to the Solar Foundation, the industry employs more than 250,000 Americans–representing a triple-digit percentage increase since 2010. More than half of solar companies, however, require new hires to have prior experience. That’s where Grid Alternatives aims to help.

Batrina Wallace went from a laid-off employee, to a program graduate, to a full-time worker in just a few months. She says the work is dirty, but even the more meaningful.

“We know that underserved communities sort of live in the heaviest polluted areas. So, for them to be a part of that change, I think is great,” she said.

And for states looking to implement sustainable policies, Taresa Lawrence, Deputy Director of the Energy Administration at Washington D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment, says this program is a win-win. She says it not only stimulates the economy through local business and green job creation, but also reduces overall energy costs.

“Solar technologies, solar installation methods, and just basic job readiness training that has been just key in making sure that no one gets left behind, that everyone can participate as we move towards the future of clean and renewable energy.”



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