CollectiveSun Is Proud To Be The Only Company In America That Exclusively Helps Nonprofits Fund Solar Projects Nationwide

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1 Company Su mmary Solar Financing 15% OFF Any Solar Installer s Bid CollectiveSun Is Proud To Be The Only Company In America That Exclusively Helps Nonprofits Fund Solar Projects Nationwide Who is CollectiveSun and How Do We Help Nonprofits? CollectiveSun has been helping nonprofits fund solar projects since We believe all nonprofits should have access to clean renewable energy. Our team of experts understand the financing challenges faced by nonprofits better than anyone else. Our proprietary funding models were designed to minimize your nonprofit s time and effort while guaranteeing the least expensive funding options available. IRS rules unfairly dictate nonprofits are excluded from utilizing tax benefits because of their tax exempt status. However, CollectiveSun s innovative financing model applies tax credits that reduce the cost of nonprofit solar projects by 15%! (Throughout this document, when nonprofits are mentioned, it refers to all tax exempt organizations including 501c3 s, HOAs, municipal/government entities and more). SOLAR FINANCING 15 OFF ANY SOLAR INSTALLER S BID Challenges and Solutions for Nonprofits After payroll, energy is often the single largest operating expense for any nonprofit. The Bad News: Energy rate increases are not slowing down anytime soon. The Good News: Solar power can significantly and permanently lower energy bills. Clean, inexpensive, renewable energy is the way to go and CollectiveSun can help. We understand nonprofits need three things to get solar: 1. A way to take advantage of tax credits. 2. Options to fund the remaining 85% after CollectiveSun has applied tax credits to reduce the cost of the solar system by 15%. 3. A process that is simple and user friendly. P CSUN (2786) E info@collectivesun.com

2 Benefits of Working with CollectiveSun CollectiveSun is guaranteed to be the least expensive option for ANY nonprofit solar project because we reduce ANY solar installer s bid by 15%. CollectiveSun also provides intangible benefits including access to our experts in solar engineering, solar finance, and project management. We created and offer a proprietary structure called a Solar Power Agreement (SPA). These agreements are void of any escalators or balloon payments. In summary, CollectiveSun can help nonprofits: Reduce ANY solar installer s bid by 15% on projects 50 kw or greater. Finance solar projects nationwide using one or ANY combination of the 5 funding options listed below (see Financing the Solar System ). ALWAYS receive the least expensive funding options. Process and Step-By-Step Summary The information below is a summary of our simple, user friendly process. Typically, a nonprofit or solar installer contacts CollectiveSun to learn more about how we can apply tax credits to reduce the cost of ANY solar installer s bid by 15% (even in areas that do not allow Power Purchase Agreements, sometimes called PPAs). During the initial call, CollectiveSun explains how we can reduce any solar installer s bid by 15%, provided the project size is over 50 kw (185 PV panels which equates to an average annual energy bill of at least $15,000). If a nonprofit already has an installer they want to work with, that installer can go to the following URL, answer some basic questions and immediately receive a Solar Power Agreement (SPA): If the nonprofit does not have an installer they would like to use, they can go to the following link and receive free bids from reputable installers nationwide: com/installerbids. It s important to mention that CollectiveSun does not accept kick-backs of any kind or referral fees for helping nonprofits find installers or lenders.

3 After the nonprofit has chosen the installer they want to work with, and after the nonprofit has reviewed, signed and ed the SPA to CollectiveSun, CollectiveSun will perform several activities prior to countersigning the agreement including a 3rd party engineering review of the system and a financial review of the nonprofit. Once the SPA is countersigned, an installer (EPC) agreement is sent to the installer for their signature. This installer (EPC) agreement is between CollectiveSun and the installer (EPC). After the SPA and the EPC agreements are signed and countersigned and the nonprofit has notified CollectiveSun that the 85% deposit is available, CollectiveSun works to secure a position in our tax investment schedule. After the nonprofit has secured its position in the tax investment schedule, a Notice To Proceed (NTP) is issued to the installer and construction can begin. The nonprofit pays the installer the first 85%, based on construction milestone payments, with CollectiveSun paying the last 15% to the installer. After the system is built (subject to the installers construction schedule), and the power is turned on, it s time to celebrate! Financing the Solar System CollectiveSun s primary mission is to help as many of the 1.5 million nonprofits nationwide get solar as possible. To accomplish this we offer the simplest and least expensive funding options available. CollectiveSun offers 5 options to fund the remaining 85% after the 15% reduction from tax credits has been applied. We also allow funding to be any one, or a combination of these 5 options. For example: if a solar installer offered a nonprofit a bid to purchase the system for $500,000, by working with CollectiveSun the nonprofit would only have to provide $425,000 because CollectiveSun would apply tax credits to reduce that bid by 15%, saving the nonprofit $75,000! The nonprofit can use any or a combination of the options below to fund the remaining $425,000: 1. Loans: A loan can come from a variety of sources including: Existing Bank Relationships: nonprofits can approach their current mortgage holder or any other bank they wish with assistance from CollectiveSun. Program Related Investment Loans (PRIs): allow foundations to make socially aligned investments as loans that offer favorable rates of return when compared to stock market investments. Nonprofit Specialty Lender Loans: if the project loan amount is over $250,000 CollectiveSun works with several nonprofit specialty lenders who are nonprofits themselves. These lenders like our solar financing structure and offer low interest rates because of their mission-alignment with

4 helping other nonprofits. We are happy to provide no-obligation introductions to our nonprofit specialty lenders upon request. 2. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE): loans are repaid as an assessment on the nonprofit s property tax bill. A lien is placed on the property to secure the loan. 3. Reserves: money in the bank, cash in hand, is the simplest option, if available. 4. Donations: nonprofit leaders can go to their supporters asking for another round of donations. 5. CrowdLending: a direct loan from the supporters of the nonprofit to the nonprofit itself. Interest rates can be anything between 0-8%. To learn more about CollectiveSun s proprietary CrowdLending campaigns, please let us know so we can provide additional information. Using the example of a cash purchase price of $1,000,000, if a nonprofit works with CollectiveSun the nonprofit would only have to provide $850,000. The nonprofit pays $850,000 directly to the installer and CollectiveSun pays the installer remaining $150,000. At the end of the 6th year, the system is transferred to the nonprofit. There is no balloon payment to own the system. Because most inverters need to be replaced around year 10, CollectiveSun insists all installers include a 20 year extended warranty on the inverter in their solar bids. All system warranties are transferred to the nonprofit when they take ownership. A question we often receive is why CollectiveSun has to own the system for the first 6 years and the answer has to do with IRS tax requirements we must follow in order to remain compliant. If CollectiveSun didn t own the system for the first 6 years, we couldn t apply tax credits to reduce the cost by 15%. A simple way to look at it is CollectiveSun is buying the solar system and because we are a for profit busi-ness, we can take advantage of the tax credits, but we share those tax benefits with the nonprofit, which is where the 15% reduction comes from. It s important to mention CollectiveSun s ownership of the system for the first 6 years is actually a benefit for the nonprofit because if anything were to go wrong with the system it s usually going to happen during the first couple years when it s our responsibility to fix any problems. At the end of the 6th year, when the nonprofit takes ownership, they re receiving a fully vetted system. Solar Power Agreement (SPA) CollectiveSun s A Solar Power Agreement is a performance based lease with a deposit feature. This means that the nonprofit is leasing equipment from CollectiveSun, but instead of making a fixed monthly lease payment, the amount of the monthly lease is deducted from the deposit and is variable based on the performance of the solar equipment. The nonprofit makes an 85% deposit which is equal to 85% of the EPC cost and also equal to the total expected lease costs over the term of agreement. CollectiveSun records the 85% deposit

5 as a loan from the nonprofit. Each month, instead of receiving a separate lease payment from the nonprofit, CollectiveSun reduces the loan balance by the amount of that month s lease payment, which is based on the amount of solar energy produced. Over time, the balance of the loan is slowly diminished by the production of solar energy and corresponding lease payments. Case Study: Sunbury Bible Church in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, recently decided to serve both their congregation and the planet by switching to clean, renewable energy. Sunbury s 35,000 square-foot facility is over 27 years old, and the leadership team decided to take advantage of a much-needed roof repair to install solar panels. This investment would help the church be good stewards of the earth as well as their finances. The church chose a local installer who gave them a bid of $360,000 for a 207kW system made up of 610 panels. The team of deacons overseeing the solar installation then researched available funding options for this project. Since the leadership team did not want to ask the congregation for more donations, they decided to work with CollectiveSun and fund their project with a Solar Power Agreement (SPA). Jim, the deacon heading up the solar project team, informed the congregation that Sunbury was hoping to lower their operating expenses by switching to solar energy. In addition to lowering energy costs, by switching to solar energy Sunbury would be fulfilling God s command to care for the earth he created. The church would take out a loan that would be paid back annually over 10 years with a 3% interest rate. Sunbury would take possession of the system at no additional cost in just 6 years, and the SPA would allow the church to lock in a discounted energy rate less than what they were currently paying which protects them against any utility rate increases for 25+ years. Best of all, the church only needed to raise $306,805 of the original $360,000 because CollectiveSun was able to apply tax credits to reduce the cost by 15% (a $54,195 saving). Those funds which would otherwise have gone to pay the electric bill can now be used to serve the Northumberland community, improve church ministries, and support missionaries around the world. At the end of the 25+ year life of the solar system, Sunbury Bible Church will end up saving more than $700,000.

6 New Pathway Emerges to Unleash Solar in Nonprofit Sector A new solar power agreement now can circumvent legal issues of thirdparty power purchase agreements. January 11, 2018 By Jennifer Delony Associate Editor The solar industry and the approximately 1.5 million U.S. nonprofit organizations have been hindered in their efforts to work together, but a new pathway has emerged that will make the process of going solar for tax-exempt entities more affordable and user friendly. CollectiveSun, the only U.S. solar company that works exclusively with nonprofits, and EnergySage, the online solar comparison-shopping place, this week said they have formed a partnership that allows nonprofits to locate Image credit: CollectiveSun Sunbury Bible Church trusted installers and secure financing all on the EnergySage website. Solar development on properties owned by tax-exempt organizations is a sector that has been challenged in the solar industry because, as entities that don t pay taxes, nonprofits can t take advantage of the 30 percent federal investment tax credit. Todd Bluechel, VP of Marketing and Sales for CollectiveSun, says that nonprofits may not seek out solar financing because they have to pay for 100 percent of a solar project, and that s not an affordable option. Or, Bluechel adds, those organizations may seek out an installer, only to be told that the installer will not work with them because they recognize that without the federal subsidy, projects just won t pencil out. CollectiveSun s business strategy, however, is based on solving the tax credit conundrum for nonprofits. What s beneficial about CollectiveSun s approach is, we buy the solar system, monetize the full tax credits, then we give half of those to the nonprofits, Bluechel told Renewable Energy World. The nonprofit only has to pay 85 percent for the solar system instead of 100 percent. Bluechel said that hundreds of

7 nonprofits submitted inquiries to EnergySage last year. Now, when those organizations visit the EnergySage site, they can search for qualified installers, and access information about financing from CollectiveSun that fits their unique needs. I m extremely optimistic about how many nonprofits we ll be able to help now that this partnership is in place, Bluechel said. More Financing Solutions for More Regions According to Bluechel, CollectiveSun has launched a new solution for nonprofits that will help the company support nonprofits throughout the U.S. The company s services are based on the ability to secure a power purchase agreement (PPA) with nonprofit organizations. Under that financial arrangement, CollectiveSun is positioned as a third-party owner of a solar power system that is hosted on a nonprofit customer s property. The customer then purchases the solar system s output from CollectiveSun under the PPA. Unfortunately, there are legal restrictions to, or statutes are ambiguous for, third-party PPAs in many parts of the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, as of 2015, third-party PPAs were not allowed in five states. CollectiveSun created a new solar power agreement (SPA) to circumvent legal issues of third-party PPAs, so now, Bluechel said, the company can work with any nonprofit anywhere in the U.S., as long as the solar project size is at least 50 kw. According to Bluechel, the SPA is a performance-based lease with a deposit feature. That means that the nonprofit is leasing equipment from CollectiveSun, but instead of making a fixed monthly lease payment, the amount of the monthly lease is deducted from the deposit and is variable based on the performance of the solar equipment.

8 Collectivesun, Energysage Partner To Simplify Solar Process For Nonprofits By Kelly Pickerel January 9, 2018 CollectiveSun, a company helping nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations fund solar projects, has teamed up with EnergySage to create a powerful new solution that allows nonprofits and tax-exempt entities to seamlessly navigate the solar purchasing and financing process. The CollectiveSun-EnergySage partnership removes the hurdles that nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations have historically had in both financing solar installations and locating high-quality, pre-screened solar installers. Now, nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations will all be able to better take advantage of solar energy. CollectiveSun is always looking for ways to deploy more solar, said Todd Bluechel, VP of marketing and sales for CollectiveSun. The CollectiveSun-EnergySage partnership was formed to help broaden and strengthen both companies ability to deploy more solar. Even though this partnership is a win-win for both, it s particularly beneficial for the 1.5 million nonprofits nationwide who have been seeking ways to afford solar. CollectiveSun provides a solar power agreement (SPA). This proprietary financing method allows the company to utilize solar tax benefits that would otherwise be lost and pass the savings onto the nonprofit buyer in the form of a 15% reduction in the cost of a new solar system. CollectiveSun also offers assistance and a variety of methods to help provide the upfront capital for the SPA, including a proprietary CrowdLending campaign. This innovative financing model will now be available to nonprofits and tax exempt organizations that register on EnergySage. Backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, EnergySage is the country s largest online comparison-shopping marketplace for solar, and matches thousands of nonprofits with its network of over 500 vetted solar companies each year. As validated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), EnergySage s impartial information and competitive bidding platform helps solar shoppers make more informed decisions and save up to 20% on their solar installation costs. Installing solar panels is a great way for tax exempt organizations to reduce operating costs and simultaneously benefit the environment, said Aaron James, VP of network partnerships at EnergySage. Whether you run a school, food bank, church or other mission-based organization, the EnergySage-CollectiveSun partnership offers a new way to make an even larger impact by switching to clean, renewable energy. We re up and running and actively accepting new registrations.

9 Still Helping Nonprofits Finance Solar Power Systems, But With A Simpler Funding Model Anne Field, CONTRIBUTOR - I cover for-profit social enterprises and impact investing. FEB 23, 12:56 PM When readers last encountered CollectiveSun three years ago, the San Diego-based social enterprise had recently launched. Its mission: to help small nonprofits finance solar projects. Since that time, the goal hasn t changed, but the financing model has. The problem the company addresses is the following: When it comes to paying for solar projects, small nonprofits--churches, schools and the like--face a great many roadblocks. IRS rules exclude them from tapping government tax incentives, for one. Also banks don t like to provide financing, because the loans are risky. CollectiveSun s Solution: a financing model that helps nonprofits foot the bill and also cuts their costs. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofits and my goal is to help as many of them as possible, says Todd Bluechel, who joined the company about a year ago. What Bluechel did was to make the financing model simpler. Basically, the company cuts the cost of a solar project by 15%. That s because it uses a 30% tax credit open to commercial and industrial Todd Bluechel entities, keeps half and returns 50% to the nonprofit customer, which has already accepted a bid from an installer of its choosing. But, when Bluechel joined the company, he changed the financing mechanism from traditional to prepaid power purchase agreements (PPAs). A regular solar power PPA is a Agreement through which a developer in this case, CollectiveSun owns the project and receives monthly payments from customers. But the PPA provider faces a lot of upfront costs to pay for the project, since it generally uses Wall Street or institutional investors. And they typically charge expensive interest rates costs the customer will have to pay off eventually during the course of the PPA term. Plus there are escalators, annual increases to the PPA rate that can really add up over time. With the prepaid version, a nonprofit makes an advance payment; after that, the customer doesn t have to make monthly payments, because, basically, they re deducted from the deposit. After six years, the customer takes over ownership of the system. The result: Total traditional PPA costs are 150% to 200% higher than those for the prepaid variety, according to Bluechel. To fund the other 85% of the project, nonprofits have a few options, ranging from donations to the company s own crowdfunding platform, which it calls crowdlending. The nonprofit s supporters lend money to the organization, which sets the interest rate and terms. Typically, they include a 4%-to-5% rate over a year period Eventually, the nonprofit not only pays off the loan, but also lowers its energy bills, according to Bluechel. To help out clients that choose the crowdlending model, CollectiveSun provides campaign managers who create customized notifications to send to supporters, along with providing other advice. The manager meets with the nonprofit weekly during a campaign, which lasts for 40 days. One pastor in Los Angeles recently had a young congregant dress up in a sun costume to pitch their project: He raised the money in a couple of days, according to Bluechel. The crowdlending platform can also be used to fund other kinds of projects. This is particularly attractive to social ventures who are launching for-benefit types of companies, as well as nonprofits who are launching revenue-generating ventures as part of their mission-related activities, Bluechel wrote in an . More to come in So far, the company has completed about a dozen solar projects, but it has more than 150 in the pipeline, according to Bluechel.

10 Three Needed Technologies for Church Facilities Our author finds products that can offer a better way to make your church more secure, comfortable, and economical to operate. Martin Sinderman January 28, 2016 A brand-new year is upon us. Right about now lots of church facilities managers are figuring out how to make good on those New Year s resolutions, to find better ways to make their physical plants more secure, comfortable, and economical to operate. Below is just a sampling of products and services that will help you do just that. No doubt there will be more to follow in the year to come here s a good places to start looking. Cut Those Energy Bills It takes a lot of money to pay for the energy necessary to heat, cool and light a church facility, not to mention power for AV equipment and other technologies used to effectively communicate its message to their congregation. Churches that are interested in exploring energy cost savings as well as becoming better stewards of the environment in the process can get in touch with CollectiveSun, a San Diego, California-based company that exclusively helps churches and other nonprofits go solar by helping them finance sustainable solar power projects. CollectiveSun connects impact investors i.e., investors who invest in cause-related opportunities with churches who need to raise the funds to develop these projects. Working on behalf of churches, CollectiveSun raises money through crowdfunding campaigns; funds the project and acts as engineering advisor to installers hired by the churches; and, through a power purchase agreement, sells solar-generated power to the church at a discounted rate for 20 years, during which time the company also handles necessary services including monitoring, operations, maintenance and repairs. The energy savings generated by solar are considerable, with Todd Bluechel, vice president of marketing and sales for CollectiveSun, citing reductions in church energy bills of from 50 percent to 97 percent. At the end of the day churches need to not only be good stewards of the earth, but they need to be fiscally responsible, so any solar system needs to pencil out, says Bluechel. Many times solar power can afford a church the ability to be a good steward of God s resources and reduce their own annual energy costs.

11 CollectiveSun helps nonprofits go solar, and at a 15% discount Derek Markham - Energy / Renewable Energy April 5, 2017 Thanks to massive drops in pricing, coupled with tax incentives and increased financing options, going solar is a bright idea for both homes and businesses, but nonprofits still find it challenging. This company is bridging that gap. What was once just an expensive fringe technology, costing more than $75 per watt in the late 70s, is rapidly becoming a go-to choice for affordable renewable energy for both homes and businesses, with costs coming in at well under $1 per watt in the last few years. And thanks to generous state and federal tax incentives, plus competitive pricing from the rapidly growing number of solar installers, coupled with a variety of finance options and falling costs, both residential and commercial solar installations are now not only the cleaner electricity choice, but the cheaper one as well. However, nonprofits can t take advantage of the available solar tax breaks, and they can have a much harder time getting financed, which means that churches, schools, and other nonprofit organizations are often left in the dark when it comes to clean energy. But one company is looking to change that, as it offers a range of helpful mechanisms for nonprofits that want to go solar, including the ability for them to save 15% on project costs, as well as access to a proprietary financing program, and tools to help facilitate the project s success. CollectiveSun, which claims that it is the only company in America that exclusively helps nonprofits fund solar projects nationwide, enables nonprofits to save 15% on solar costs by essentially owning the project itself and taking the federal tax incentive, and then passing on half of it to the organization to reduce its solar costs. The nonprofit then takes ownership of the solar array after about six years, and reaps the savings for the rest of the life of the system, which is typically 25 years or more. We believe in nonprofits and we believe in community service. We serve on non-profit boards, we ve founded nonprofits ourselves, and our parents have founded nonprofits. We also believe that nonprofit is a tax designation, not a business plan. Nonprofits can make a profit, they simply are exempt from paying taxes on that profit because of their charitable mission. Robust and effective organizations that can lock in a low

12 cost of energy for 20 years are more fiscally responsible and less likely to become insolvent. We believe nonprofits are the backbone of any community and strong nonprofits create strong, vibrant and resilient communities. - CollectiveSun The company also manages a finance program called CrowdLending, which allows the nonprofit s supporters to make a direct loan for the solar project, which is then repaid with interest over a 10- to 12-year term. The CrowdLending program isn t the only option for nonprofit solar financing, as CollectiveSun also allows for nonprofits to use any combination of financing options, which can include traditional loans, donations, the use of cash reserves, a PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) loan, or other methods, while still qualifying for a 15% lower project cost. CollectiveSun also employs what is called a prepaid PPA (Power Purchase Agreement), which is a bit different of a mechanism than a traditional (and generally more expensive) PPA, and one which is cheaper over the long run because the nonprofit makes an initial advance payment (hence the term prepaid ) instead of having to pay the higher costs of a financed PPA. Under traditional full cost PPAs, a large bank, a Wall Street Investor or another unaffiliated entity is profiting from the financing of your nonprofit s solar project. CollectiveSun s Prepaid PPAs differ because they are funded by community members who profit from the transaction, thereby keeping dollars in the community. CollectiveSun This model can allow nonprofits to get a solar array installed at a yearly cost near what their annual electricity costs are, and which will be owned by the organization in about 6 years and paid off within a decade, yet will continue to generate what is essentially free electricity for years to come, which can add up to a considerable amount of saved costs. Here s a quick look at the CollectiveSun model: There are a few caveats to the CollectiveSun model, including a minimum size of the solar array of 20 kw, and that the local utility company must allow PPAs. Nonprofits can either bring an existing bid from a solar installer to CollectiveSun, or can contact the company without a prior bid, after which the company will connect the nonprofit with a reputable solar installer to receive a bid. Find out more about CollectiveSun at the company website.

13 Community-Funded PPAs Make Solar For Nonprofits Possible By Kathie Zipp December 18, 2013 Nonprofits are the backbone of our community. They provide houses of worship, educate our children and deliver vital services to the most vulnerable among us. These are the organizations that we should be going out of our way to help. However, when it comes to renewable energy, nonprofits are among the lowest represented of any segment. Why? Simply stated, nonprofit organizations have no tax liability. As such, they are unable to take advantage of the tax benefits that are used by corporations and home owners who want to deploy renewable energy at their homes and businesses. Lee Barken Community Funded PPAs The solution to this problem is a well-established financial mechanism known as a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). A PPA is a third party solar ownership structure that provides solar as a service to an underlying host. Selling electrons as a service allows the third party owner to monetize tax benefits, and then pass the savings through to the host in the form of low cost power. Tax exempt organizations like government municipalities, water districts and universities have used the PPA structure with great success to fund large projects. However, for smaller nonprofits it has been difficult if not impossible to qualify for traditional PPAs. This typically happens because the organization does not meet rigid underwriting standards or the project size is simply too small. We at CollectiveSun have worked to eliminate these problems. CollectiveSun is an impact investing platform for investors who want to support renewable energy projects and great nonprofits. We work with communities of faith (churches, synagogues, etc), schools and other 501c3 community service organizations who want to go solar. We are not installers. Rather, we help nonprofits organize their community to finance solar projects as an investment (not a donation) that rewards investors with annual principal and interest payments. Doing Well By Going Solar As an installer, serving nonprofits is more than just altruism. Nonprofits are deeply embedded in the fabric of a community and their members are a loyal group. A successful nonprofit project often leads to other referral opportunities with members of the nonprofit. In addition, the PR benefits of a community-based investment campaign are significant for both the nonprofit and the installer. Helping nonprofits embrace renewable energy is also a great way to grow the solar industry. Without a mechanism to take advantage of tax incentives, these transactions would be non-economic and simply would not happen. A community-funded PPA is just the tool needed to demonstrate real savings for nonprofits who want to go solar, thereby making these projects possible. CollectiveSun s approach uses investments from a nonprofit s own support network, offering another channel of engagement to develop new financial and nonfinancial supporters. Rather than donating money in an endless cycle to pay for electricity bills, installers can now offer nonprofits a pathway to taking advantage of the savings that solar energy provides and becoming energy self-sufficient.

14 Family Company Brings Solar To Local Church By Juli Alsadi February 4, :02 am Crown Contracting got to work on the solar project at First Southern Baptist Tuesday morning. YUCCA VALLEY, CA Local workers installed solar panels at a Yucca Valley church this week thanks to the help of an online program. First Southern Baptist church first contacted Crown Contracting over a year ago to discuss installing solar panels. However, the church could not get financing to move forward with the project until officials learned about Collective Sun, an organization that uses an online fundraising platform to help nonprofits find investors who are paid back annually through energy savings. Lowell Burton started Crown Contracting 10 years ago. He has since retired, but occasionally helps his sons Craig and Mark tackle projects with their local crew. High winds on Monday moved installation to Tuesday and after the small amount of ice on the roof melted, the crew from Crown Contracting got to work. We ll finish the installation this afternoon, said solar specialist Mark Burton. Most of our projects take only a day or two to complete. Crown remodeled the student center at Copper Mountain College and the mammography suite at Hi-Desert Medical Center, and specializes in installing solar panels that use microinverters. Owner Craig Burton explained the benefits of using these panels. With the old panels, like old strands of Christmas lights, if one went out the whole thing quit working, Burton said. Now if one panel is shaded or damaged, the function of the rest of the array isn t affected, so it s much easier to see where the problem is and get it fixed. Burton said the panels can be individually monitored to see how much energy is produced in real time. The 32 panels installed on the church roof should generate 16,500 kilowatt hours of energy annually, and pay for themselves in 12 years or less.

15 Rockie Mountain Institute Innovation Center: Financing PV An Innovative Financing Model For Solar January 12, 2016 A common barrier to purchasing on-site solar PV capacity is the up-front capital cost--especially to non-profit organizations who can t take advantage of the tax incentives that make solar particularly attractive to homeowners or other commercial building owners. That s why we used a unique power purchase agreement (PPA) utilizing a pass-through contract with our utility. A PPA is an industry standard contract and ownership structure in which a third-party owns and maintains the PV system, the building owner agrees to put the solar on their rooftop, and then the building owner agrees to buy all of the energy that the PV system produces. While PPAs are quite common in the industry, they are rarely done for smaller systems (<500kw in size) suitable for small commercial buildings, and even more uncommon for non-profit organizations. The Innovation Center s PV system is owned by a 3rd party entity (CollectiveSun) and financed by an investor who is blurring the lines between financial return and philanthropic support. In this case, the non-profit organization (RMI) pays for the energy the system produces, which is passed through the utility to CollectiveSun which in turn passes the earnings to the system s investor at a lower return than a traditional PPA. This model is attractive to certain donors because they do receive a small return, while also helping provide a lower cost of renewable energy for the non-profit (over a traditional PPA), which makes them an integral part of the organization s net-zero energy strategy. This financing model was made possible through cooperation and coordination with Collective Sun, Sol Energy, PAE, SunPower, Black Bear Energy, and Holy Cross Electric, RMI s local utility provider. A solar financing solution that strengthens our relationships with donors, helps achieve our net-zero strategy, and provides a direct return-on-investment is quite innovative, and we worked with a number of different parties to make sure that we have that really flushed out and to a level that can be scalable across the country, to other non-profit organizations and small businesses. Craig Schiller.

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