Solar can be More AffordableLocation: New York That's the result of a study by San Francisco-based solar company SunRun, which reported on how local governments can save $1 billion over the next five years and make solar affordable for 50 percent of American homes. The report, "The Impact of Local Permitting on the Cost of Solar Power," shows that inconsistent local solar permitting and inspection processes add about 50 cents per watt to the costs of installation. "Every city and town has its own set of regulations and requirements for solar installations. Our research identifies inconsistencies in local permitting as one of the most critical roadblocks to a sustainable, subsidy-free solar industry," said SunRun CEO and Co-founder Ed Fenster. "To tackle this challenge head-on, the DOE can use existing guidelines it has already funded to standardize local permitting and deliver the equivalent of a new $1 billion solar subsidy over five years." Fenster says that the cost of equipment has dropped more quickly than the industry expected, which makes the areas of permitting and selling and general administrative expenses more obvious. "One of the things that become apparent is that solar becomes more affordable. One of the things that becomes brutally obvious is the price of equipment is like falling off a cliff but there's not that much more than can be found. What you're left looking at how much more expensive everything is, and this really stands out," he added. If the costs come down, then close rates rise substantially and selling costs per customer come down, Fenster said. SunRun works in seven states with 25 installation companies, so the network of installers has all ranges of experiences with permitting challenges, which some described as "our biggest problem." The solar industry isn't looking for shortcuts, but rather a way to eliminate red tape by adopting practices that are already in place in developed countries. "It's not like Germany is a dangerous place where houses are catching on fire every day because they haven't figured out how to regulate the safe construction of residential solar," Fenster said. The savings could be even greater if close rates improve and the cost of sales was to drop. "We were very conservative in the report and we think the opportunity is even larger than what we put in print. But we wanted to make sure what we put in print was totally bullet-proof," Fenster said. Bill Opalka is editor of RenewablesBiz Daily Copyright © 1996-2010 by CyberTech, Inc. All rights reserved. To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.energycentral.com To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.energybiz.com |