Grants aid switch to solar

Jun 29 - Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV)

Switching a small business or farm to renewable energy can be a daunting task, but there are resources available to guide you and federal funding on hand to defray costs.

A program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers grants through the Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP). Jesse Gandee , USDA rural business specialist, said the grants reimburse up to 25 percent of the costs.

"It can be solar panels but it can also be wind or for someone that wants to switch fuel from, say, oil to wood," he said. "So say if you have a project that's $100,000 , basically once it's up and operational we'll provide a $25,000 reimbursement."

The USDA also partners with private organizations to help them shift to renewable energy, Gandee said. One of these organizations is the Virginia -based Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF), an organization that helps guide applicants through paperwork and to secure loans.

Ward Malcolm , owner of Malcolm Farms in Moorefield , said he had 156 solar panels installed atop two poultry houses on the farm in 2013, along with inverters to send excess power back to the grid. He said a REAP grant saved him $30,000 .

The NCIF helped walk him through the application process, something he might not have attempted on his own, Malcolm said. He produces roughly $10 of his own electricity a day and sells some of it back to the power companies, depending on the day, he said.

The program was started in 2005, according to Gandee. The grant money comes from the Agricultural Act of 2014, also known as the Farm Act, which is passed every five years by Congress . The money for the reimbursement grants comes as mandatory funding set aside for renewable energy projects within the Farm Act.

In the 2015 fiscal year, Gandee said, $1.3 million was set aside for West Virginia , although the dollar amount fluctuates each year. The REAP grants help finance about eight or nine projects in the Mountain State every year, depending on the project, he said. The smallest REAP grant can bring $2,500 , while the largest can mean $500,000 .

Gandee said it's typical for all of the allocated funds to be used, but it remains to be seen if that will be the case this year. Tuesday marks the deadline for grant applications for the 2015 federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30 .

The 2016 fiscal year starts Oct. 1 and the deadline for grant applications under $20,000 is Oct. 30 ; April 30, 2016 , marks the deadline for grant applications of all other sizes.

Farmers throughout West Virginia are eligible to receive grants, Gandee said. However, financing for non-farming businesses are confined to rural areas, which the USDA defines as having a population of 50,000 or less.

Joe Lillard owns Washington Homeopathic Works, a pharmacy in Berkeley Springs . He had solar panels installed on the roof of his business on Dec. 31 . This was made possible by loans from the NCIF and $35,000 in savings through a REAP grant, he said.

"It's the way of the future as far as where you're going to get your energy."

"We used to have an electric bill that was $800 -something dollars a month and now it's only about $600 -something a month," Lillard said.

Lillard and Malcolm said the switch to solar power wouldn't have been financially viable without the REAP grants.

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