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In 2001, Solar Boston worked with Wainright Bank and Trust Company to offer a "Green Loan." This product offers up to 1.25% reduction in the interest rate of a home equity loan for solar projects. Another success for Solar Boston is the State Residential Conservation Services Program's inclusion of solar hot water for a pilot program. Solar Boston has worked with the Division of Energy Resources to set aside funds for consumers who switch from electric to solar water heating.
In addition to serving the interest of consumers, Solar Boston continues to make contact with manufacturers and solar contractors looking to develop markets in New England. Their resource directory currently includes eighteen local solar providers.
I had a moment to catch up with Nicole Wobus, Solar Boston's Program Director, to ask her some questions about Solar Boston's current work and what's ahead for the partnership.
JP: Nicole, from the looks of things, it would appear that Solar Boston has quite a track record of success. Congratulations. But surely you've had some bumps along the way. What do you think has been the biggest obstacle the partnership has had to overcome?
NW: The upfront cost associated with installing solar technology is probably the biggest barrier to solar in Boston right now. Because labor is so expensive in this area, systems cost even more here than they do in other parts of the country. For example, a solar hot water system that costs $3,000 elsewhere would cost closer to $5,000 or $6,000 here. With so many people heating their water with natural gas, the payback on a $6,000 solar hot water system doesn't make it look like a very attractive investment for a lot of homeowners. The costs of PV are, of course, even greater than SHW, so it can be a hard sell for homeowners who are looking at solar for economic reasons, or for those who are working with limited financial resources.
SB has been pursuing strategies to bring down the costs of both SHW and PV, and it seems that we are finally starting to see our efforts pay off. SB and several of our partners played a significant role in shaping the Massachusetts. Renewable Energy Trust's Solar-to-Market Initiative. This program will include a clustered installation program that will offer consumers within a geographic cluster rebates of $4-5/ watt for the installation of PV. SB has applied to be the administrator of one such cluster. We hope to see about 100kW of PV installed in the Greater Boston area as a result of this program.
We've also been working with our state energy office to get SHW included in their Residential Conservation Services Program. With the assistance of SB, they will be starting a pilot program soon that will allow residential customers who currently have an electric water heater to qualify for a $500 "fuel neutral reward" to be applied toward the installation of SHW. SB plans to actively promote this opportunity and hopefully see 10-15 systems installed in Greater Boston as a part of the pilot program.
JP: So knowing that you've been working hard to get programs in place, can you say that there's a distinct solar awareness in Boston? I mean, do you think it's still a tough sell in a place like Boston?
NW: Certainly awareness is growing. In fact, we believe
that this is probably the area where we've had the biggest
impact so far. Solar Boston makes an effort to attend
as many community events as possible to get the word
out and get people interested in solar. To this day,
when most people think about solar, they think of California
or Arizona. Most don't realize that solar can work right
here in Massachusetts. This is one of the reasons why
last year, SB began a Special Assistance Program, designed
to help interested businesses and organizations install
solar technologies by providing assistance with finding
contractors, fund-raising, publicity, etc. The idea
was that these installations could then serve as models
within the community. Though we received an impressive
level of interest in the program, we still encountered
logistical barriers with many of our early partners.
So far, we've completed two installations as a part
of this program: a 2kW PV system on Wellesley High School,
and a solar hot water system on the facility of a non-profit
serving developmentally disabled adults. We believe
that the more successful projects we have to point to
in the Boston area, the easier it will be to convince
the public that solar really does work here.
JP: So who's been a big supporter of the partnership?
NW: We've been extremely fortunate to have Wainwright Bank and Trust Co. support Solar Boston. They responded favorably when SB approached them about developing a lending product that would offer an incentive for homeowners pursuing solar installations. In January of 2001, they launched a "green" home equity loan that enables consumers to get up to 1.25% off the interest rate for a home equity loan if they install a solar technology.
JP: Has there been a lot of activity with the loan program?
NW: Unfortunately, the loan has seen little activity so far since most homeowners pursuing solar equipment installations prefer to pay upfront rather than taking on debt. Although no one has taken advantage of the loan yet, we hope that the combination of the upcoming rebates and this attractive financing option will make solar energy more economically feasible for a broader range of consumers.
Wainwright Bank is truly a socially responsible company, and is willing to think outside the box about ways they can help us reduce our environmental footprint by increasing the use of solar energy. Of course, at the same time they get to improve their image as a community-minded bank. It's been great to have a committed partner like Wainwright.
JP: So if you had to choose, what do you think has been Solar Boston's biggest success?
NW: One of our most recent and exciting success stories has been our work with the state energy office on the SHW pilot program that I mentioned earlier. However, this is also one of our biggest challenges since SB is really the only organization in Massachusetts actively working to promote SHW. Although SHW isn't as glamorous as PV, it really makes more sense financially for most consumers. However, the reputation of SHW was damaged somewhat by the poor aesthetics and performance of many of the systems installed during the solar boom after the energy crisis in the seventies. Many of the installers who were in the business back then have been forced to move on to other things, leaving many of the systems unserviced and many of the system owners with a bad taste in their mouth about solar energy. We believe it is critical to build a stronger network of SHW distributors and installers.
We believe that including SHW in the Residential Conservation Services Program is a major step in the right direction, as it sends a message that SHW is a valuable energy saving technology for 21st Century. The pilot program is a prime opportunity to improve the economics of SHW and to showcase the latest SHW technology. We hope consumers will be impressed with reliability, performance and aesthetics of SHW systems installed through this program.
JP: It would appear that you're headed straight in that direction, Nicole. So what do you think is on the horizon for the Solar Boston MSR partnership?
NW: In the coming months, SB will be actively promoting both the SHW pilot program and the Mass. Renewable Energy Trust's rebate program for PV that were discussed above. If we are given the opportunity to function as an administrator for the PV cluster program, a great deal of our time will be devoted to this effort. We are very excited about this programs potential, as it will finally enable us to see the impacts of economies of scale. We have already heard from many consumers who are thrilled to install solar with the help of these new incentives.
We will also continue to work on strengthening the SHW industry. We plan to explore strategies to train more SHW installers and look at alternative SHW technologies that can provide lower cost systems and enhanced performed.
We are so appreciative to the D.O.E. for funding SB activities to date, as the funds have enabled us to participate in important discussions that have laid the foundation for the exciting programs that are now unfolding. Furthermore, the experience we have gained through our SB efforts has positioned us to be much more effective contributors to local solar efforts in the future. ^ back to top ^
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