It tends to be easier to earn this credit on low-rise buildings with relatively large roof areas, because they often have large unobstructed areas for installing solar panels.
Consider standalone systems that are easier to install. Electrical vehicle charging stations can be easily hooked up to PV panels, for example. Standalone solar-powered site lighting (in which a small PV panel is integrated into each fixture) can be solar powered throughout the year and reduces the infrastructure requirements of wiring and maintenance. These systems are not likely to add up to enough energy to earn the credit, though.
Roof mounted or on-site generation technology is considered a mechanical system so the area it takes up is excluded from calculations for the heat island reduction credits, SSc7.1 and SSc7.2.
Look for partnerships with local utilities and other groups who can purchase excess electricity. Some utilities are looking to encourage more existing facilities to generate electricity from renewable sources to increase their renewable portfolio. Also, they may be short on space to install their own system or need an experimental site for net metering.
Account for inflation and increases in utility costs over the next few years to obtain a realistic cost-benefit analysis, as ROI and payback are highly dependent on utility charges for conventional energy. Look up the costs of electricity in your state and projected price for the calculations. Also obtain the actual inflation rate current at the time of the ROI analysis. Retail residential electricity prices increased an estimated 8% during the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008 according to a June 2009 report by the U.S.
Onsite generation can reduce peak utility loads, reducing utility costs and need for electricity generation capacity. Utilities often encourage onsite generation and support it with subsidies and incentives.
Find out if net-metering is available in your area. Net metering allows you to feed power that your system generates into the electrical grid and get paid for that power. This allows you to use the grid as a battery, which saves the cost and hassle of installing and maintaining a battery system. (Without batteries, however, you won’t have back-up power to use in a power failure or idle periods). Typical PV, wind and other on site systems generate DC current which has to be stored for future use and converted to AC current for onsite application.
