The project is owned by a third-party investor who sells the power and renewable energy credits to Progress Energy under the SunSense Commercial Solar program. J&S receives a lease payment for the use of of the rooftop.

Jeff Schwarz, the owner of J&S, says the lease helped pay for re-roofing the commercial property.

The J&S project is one of several Argand has put together, matching investors to property owners.

Argand arranged the lease of the rooftop from J&S and put together the deal to sell the power and the renewable-energy credits that go with it to Progress Energy in a long-term contract. Under the SunSense program, which is limited to projects no more than 500 kilowatts in size, Progress pays 18 cents per kilowatt hour for the power and the energy credits. That is an incentive rate above the 9 or 10 cents per kilowatt hour utilities pay based on their regular avoided cost formula.

The project cost about $2 million to build.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

The partnership between Yes! Solar Solutions of Cary and Argand Energy Solutions, with offices in Durham and Charlotte, will result in the largest non-profit solar energy system in Wake County and one of the largest non-profit installations in the state of North Carolina. The two solar energy companies will work side-by-side on the installation. Once operating, the system will produce enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 28 small homes each year.

Under an innovative solar financing model, Argand Energy and its investor will own and operate the system and Dorcas Ministries will be able to benefit from solar energy with no out-of-pocket expenses. The non-profit will receive lease payments for the otherwise unusable rooftop space. Construction on the project is slated to begin in February.

Dorcas Ministries is a non-profit organization focused on serving Wake County residents who find themselves in any kind of temporary financial crisis. Both Yes! Solar Solutions and Argand Energy Solutions are expanding their services into the non-profit sector to help organizations reap the benefits of clean energy.

About Yes! Solar Solutions
Yes! Solar Solutions (YesSolarSolutionsNC.com) designs and installs custom solar systems for residential and commercial clients. We help our clients reduce energy use and save energy costs by identifying the best and most cost effective energy solutions for their home or office. We are proud to be a Green Plus Certified company and are committed to giving back to the community through volunteer projects, supporting local businesses, and community events.

About Argand Energy Solutions
Argand Energy Solutions provides comprehensive solar solutions to commercial, government, educational, and residential clients. Our solutions and services are tailored to client needs and include system design, project development, installation, financing, and on-going maintenance and support. Over the past decade, Argand has evolved from a small provider of solar energy equipment and services to a leader in the installation, design, and development of solar projects in the Carolinas and southeastern United States.

About Dorcas Ministries
Dorcas Ministries (dorcas-cary.org) is focused on alleviating financial crisis in Wake County. The donations they receive are resold in the Dorcas Thrift Shop to raise funds for crisis support. That support can be temporary rent assistance, or vouchers to pay for child care so a parent can afford to take a job. One of the first Dorcas projects was a pre-K program that not only helped parents with child care, but gave children a head start on kindergarten they might not have had otherwise.

“This is the largest installation (of its type) in the state,” Spain said during a news conference celebrating the event.

In December, the board of education approved an agreement with Argand for the lease of 80,000 square feet of the WCHS roof for the installation of the solar energy system.

Rob Lease, Argand’s Raleigh-area director of Business Development, said that the first such project the company completed in Warren County was at Glen Raven’s Sunbrella Yarn Manufacturing Center in Norlina.

That project, which was completed last year, involved the installation of a 500-kilowatt solar array.

“Through (Warren County Manager) Linda Worth was how we started talking about (the WCHS) project,” Lease said.

Through a partnership between Warren County Schools, Argand and Progress Energy, 2,028 solar modules would be installed on the WCHS roof based on the lease agreement with Argand. The electrical energy generated would then be sold to Progress Energy through its SunSense Program.

Lease said that 496 kilowatts of electricity is enough to power 50-60 homes per year.

Warren County Schools’ contract for participation in the project runs for 20 years. Lease noted that the useful life of the solar array extends to 30 years or more.

He explained that the solar array would be donated to WCHS after the contract period has expired. However, at the end of year six, Warren County Schools would have the option to purchase the solar array, but the contract selling the electricity generated to Progress Energy would continue for the full 20 years.

Lease anticipated that construction of the solar energy system would begin around April and would take about 60 to 90 days to complete. Once it is operational, a Web-based monitoring system will provide real-time data about how much electrical power is generated.

In addition to the system installed on the roof, a two-kilowatt ground mount solar energy system, along with a separate monitoring system, will be installed on the grounds of WCHS for educational purposes.

Spain said that the ground mount system would be a valuable learning tool for a number of classes, especially as students look ahead toward possible careers.

Lease explained that the ground mount system would not be tied in with the rooftop solar array, meaning that it could be used to provide power for a campus use.

The school is considering a number of possible uses, including providing electrical power to a greenhouse on campus.

With a number of students attending Tuesday’s event, Spain asked Lease to discuss the courses that the young people might want to take to prepare for careers related to projects such as the solar array.

Lease said that math, science and business courses would be beneficial.

“Get more involved in renewable energy,” he said. “This is the future.”

Source: The Warren Record

The public is invited to a ceremony on January 10 unveiling newly installed solar modules to the deck’s top level, leaving 23 lucky parking spaces in the shade.

The $500,000 project, owned by a private investor, was funded through a North Carolina Main Street Energy II Grant.  Power produced from the solar array will be sold back to the energy grid.

The modules are expected to generate more than 80,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough energy to power four homes.

Mayor Scott Padgett, along with members of City Council, investor Stefan Gleason and representatives from Argand Energy Solutions will ceremonially acknowledge use of the solar array on Tuesday, January 10 at 3:30 p.m. on the top level of the parking deck.

Source: WBTV Website

In some ways, the solar industry has never been better in the Charlotte area.

Larger solar arrays are en vogue just as many roofing and electrical companies have begun branching out with operations dedicated to installations for mom-and-pop projects.

Prices for photovoltaic panels have fallen to a point where installers are saying it makes sense to build in Duke Energy Corp.’s Charlotte territory as well as Progress Energy ’s turf in other parts of North Carolina.

It’s been a long-standing issue for developers trying to finance solar projects.

Typically, Progress Energy pays more for electricity generated by solar — pegged around 18 cents per kilowatt hour — although the company’s preference is to work with smaller systems. Duke will often pay as much as 30% less for solar energy, in the ballpark of 11 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour, but it has a penchant for bigger projects.

Chatham Olive, vice president of business development at Argand Energy, says two years ago, it would cost up to $7 per watt to install a photovoltaic system. That works out to costing a developer about $700,000 for a 100-kilowatt project. Today, thanks to lower equipment costs, the same system can be built for $400,000.

As a result, Olive says he’s more than bullish. “I’m feeling very positive about the whole solar segment. There’s a bigger grass-roots movement. It’s happening, although it’s never as fast as I’d like to see it.”

Olive cites the recent solar announcements by Ikea as an example of a corporation that’s changing the industry. The Swedish home-furnishings retailer is well on its way to covering 75% of its building rooftops in the U.S. with solar panels, including its 356,000-square-foot store in north Charlotte.

“You can turn a roof into a performing asset and lock in power costs for 30 years,” Olive says.

Ikea will own, install and operate the system for its own air conditioning and lighting needs outside of any power-purchase agreements with energy utilities. The Charlotte rooftop panels are expected to generate 1.33 million kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power 114 homes.

“That’s the kind of leadership that moves the market,” says Maria Kingery, co-founder of Southern Energy Management, which is based in Morrisville but has a key office in Charlotte.

But no property owners with tenants can pull off what Ikea plans because of state regulations.

A local company can contract to sell solar power to Duke under a power-purchase agreement. Or it can build a system that offsets its own property’s consumption — but only if the energy is used by the owner of the system, such as Ikea. Meaning: A company that owns a warehouse or office building can use solar panels for some of its own electrical use. But that property owner can’t sell that electricity to a tenant. Apartment buildings aren’t able to put in panels to offset the costs of renters.

Solar industry watchers hope for legislation that would change those restrictions by allowing third-party sales. “It would be a game-changer in North Carolina,” Kingery says of allowing third-party sales. “On the consumer side, it offers more choice. Third-party sales is really about market competition.”

The big question for solar in 2012: What will be the repercussions from the proposed Duke-Progress merger?

SEM’s Kingery says it’s a question that’s being asked across the N.C solar industry because “the two utilities have taken very different approaches to meeting their renewable requirements.”

No decisions have been announced on how Duke and Progress will marry their approaches to generating solar energy, says company spokesman Jason Walls.

Walls says one of the major goals of the merger is the adoption of each utility’s best practices.

“While we don’t know what our renewable strategy will be in the combined companies, we know it will be the best of both companies,” he says.

Duke’s existing plans for solar fall under renewable requirements set forth by North Carolina. Walls says there’s no specific target for 2012. But “we are able to meet our compliance for next year,” he adds.

“The company is still very much in the market of solar,” Walls says. “The price continues to come down, which is more cost-effective for us.”

BEST CASE

Solar panel prices continue to drop, lowering the cost of photovoltaic systems. North Carolina legislation passes that allows for third-party sales in the solar industry, opening the door to more competition and new investment. The merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy leads to an adoption of statewide solar programs that enables owners of photovoltaic systems to sell electricity back to the utilities at a higher rate.

WORST CASE

Panel prices increase or panels become unavailable, locking up the growing industry. A finalized merger between Duke and Progress results in a company policy that offers lower prices to independent solar developers, making it difficulty to finance new installation.

Source: This article appeared in The Charlotte Business Journal

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Businesses qualified for Fast 50 recognition based on a formula that reflects dollar and percentage growth during a three-year period. Companies applied for inclusion by submitting nominations that included financial performance as well as questions regarding strategy and growth during the recession. Companies had to have annual revenue of at least $1 million in 2010. They also must be based in the 16-county Charlotte region.

Accounting firm LarsonAllen evaluated the nominations to determine the rankings.

Erik Lensch, President of Argand Energy commented, “We are proud to be leasing the J&S rooftop for this large solar installation in Asheboro. J&S has shown a strong commitment toward creating jobs, energy security and environmental stewardship by participating in our program to develop commercial solar energy installations in North Carolina locations served by Progress Energy.”