Long Island Solar Energy Consortium?

How about a "Long Island Solar Energy Consortium" comprised of all governmental and large business entities on Long Island? Perhaps that would allow us to achieve the critical mass necessary to make solar energy a cost effective solution (with this company or others) to some of our energy needs.

Just a thought. I'm sure there are studies on this out there somewhere. Please let me know if you find any. The Energy Blog may also be of interest to you as well as GreenGamma.com , reegle and RELI. Also read the Solar Energy Center's information.

I checked into this company as a follow-up to a previous post to see if this type of program was available on Long Island and what the current guidelines are. Below is part of the response I received (note: please check directly with the company if any of this is of interest to you).


Hello Solar enthusiast,

I want to first thank you all for your inquires; it has been an amazing week for SunEdison. We have had a 100-fold increase in inquires over the last few days. Between our mention on PBS’s NOVA program and our various Press Releases, we have had a great deal of interest in our Solar Services and we want to thank you again for your patience waiting for our response.

As some of you may or may not know, SunEdison is North America’s largest Solar Energy Service Provider delivering turn-key, predictably-priced renewable electricity services at or below local utility rates for commercial, government and utility customers without capital outlays traditionally associated with solar solutions. Using industry proven technology, SunEdison delivers a complete service we finance, install, own, operate and maintain photovoltaic power plants at the customer’s facility. Our customers pay only for solar electricity, not solar equipment.

Now that we have you interested in our services, please read below to see if you fit into our rating criteria.

SunEdison is not capable of delivering our services to just anyone anywhere in the U.S.; we rely highly on state and federal incentive programs to help us finance our solar systems. Here is a list of criteria that we have to adhere to in order for us to deliver our services:

1) Facility Size – Locations with more than 30,000 sq. ft. of available roof space; this will exclude most, if not all residence, residential development and any small commercial sites.

2) Customer Size – Companies with more than 15 properties in there portfolio.

3) Location - The 5 states in the U.S. with incentives that allow us to offer our solar services are California, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut and Hawaii. You must have facilities in these states to able to receive SunEdison’s solar services at this time.

4) Credit Rating - In order to finance a project, we need an investment-grade credit score. However, if you are privately held company or a non-profit, we will need to see 3 years of audited financials.

There are a few exceptions to the above guidelines

1) If you have a Facility Size that is over 150,000 sq. ft. in the correct Location, we can deliver to a Customer Size with less than 15 properties.

2) If you have a Customer Size of over 50 facilities, that are the correct Facility Size, we can deliver to facilities that may not be located in the correct Locations.

3) If you are a Government entity, you are generally exempt from the Credit Rating process.

4) If you have a Location that fit the above criteria in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina or New Mexico, we may be able to begin lining up your locations for future solar programs. Within the next 9 to 18 months, there should be an applicable program in any or all of these states.

What you need to do if you DO fit the SunEdison criteria:


What you need to do if you DO NOT fit the SunEdison criteria:

RESIDENTIAL/ REIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS/ SMALL COMMERCIAL CLIENTS
Please check a website called www.findsolar.com; there are many companies all over the U.S. that are able to offer solar to both small commercial and residential clients where state incentives are only available for smaller project sizes. If you find yourself in a state where there are no incentives for solar and the economics are not viable, please contact http://www.votesolar.org/get-involved.html. They can help you get in touch with local politicians and begin the process for bringing solar to your state.

LARGE COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITES
Please reply to this email and we will connect you to our Regulatory Affairs group, and if you so desire, you can help us in our effort to education local and state-wide policy makers.