Community Church Solar Upgrade
Our team is dedicated to making energy efficient and renewable energy upgrades affordable and easy for our customers across the Sacramento area. We recently completed a large solar project for Lincoln Hills Community Church, a church located in Lincoln, CA.
Our Solution: Going Solar with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
Though we typically have our solar customers take full advantage of the 30% tax credit available for solar projects, churches and similar organizations are not eligible for the incentive. Instead, Lincoln Hills Community Church opted for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with us with a buyout after five years. This means that the customer pays nothing upfront, and purchases the power generated by the solar system from Brower at a lower rate than they are currently paying PG&E. Brower owns the system for those 5 years; after that time, the church will purchase the system from Brower at a much lower cost than they would have paid initially.
Incredible Energy Savings Achieved
The community church immediately started seeing significant financial and energy savings. Before the solar upgrade, the price per kWh was $0.21; during the 5 years of the Brower PPA agreement, the price dropped to $0.12 per kWh. The price per kWh for the life of the solar system is just $0.07. Here are a few more stats on their upgrades and savings achieved:
- Monthly savings after PPA payments to Brower for 5 years of PPA term: $976.28 ($11,715 yearly)
- Buyout price after 5 years: $116,851 – They will be using CCCU (Christian Community Credit Union) loan for this purchase
- They also did an LED lighting upgrade for the remaining kWh that the solar system did not cover with a 36 month, 0% loan
Now, the solar system is producing more electricity than the church consumes during the times when rates are most expensive (called “On-Peak”). To combat expenses, our team switched them to an “time-of-use rate” with PG&E. This allows them to use these “On-Peak” credits ($0.60/kWh) to offset their leftover “Off-Peak” ($0.15/kWh) electrical consumption at a 4 to 1 ratio. This means that every kWh that they overproduce during “On-Peak” times will cover 4 kWh during “Off-Peak” times.
