Solarithmetic In (On) Schools: Good For Private Investors

Via Earth Techling, a report on an interesting financial innovation that allows private investors to own the solar power systems installed at public schools while still receiving substantial associated tax benefits.

“…That concept is swiftly becoming a reality in Gainesville, Fla., where Gainesville Regional Utility‘s (GRU) feed-in tariff system will be instrumental in bringing renewable energy to eight Alachua County schools.

Under the terms of this program, 725 kilowats of roof-mounted solar power will be installed at zero cost to the school district, and the district will receive annual payments of $72,500 for 20 years. This money will be used (appropriately enough) to implement a K-12 renewable energy curriculum and fund further energy improvement at the schools. According to Solar Impact, the installer behind this project, this payment is more than double what was being offered to Gainesville businesses on similar terms.

In order to create a win‐win‐win situation for all parties involved, Solar Impact shifted the normal terms of this roof-rental agreement, giving investors the opportunity to help public schools, improve the environment and create local jobs – all while receiving a monthly payment equal to a 10‐12 percent annual return for 20 years. (This cash comes courtesy of GRU, which will purchase the electricity at $0.29/kilowatt-hour under the 20-year feed-in-tariff contract.) Investors simply make lease payments to the school in return for the use of roof-space during the contract period.

Barry Jacobson, president of Gainesville-based Solar Impact, helped to draft these terms, which are designed to maximize funds for the public schools. “Our children received an excellent education while attending Alachua County public schools,” he said in a statement. He went on to note that he and his wife saw this project as a chance to bring solar to the public schools while creating a much needed revenue stream for the district



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About This Blog And Its Author
As potential uses for building and parking lot roofspace continue to grow, unique opportunities to understand and profit from this trend will emerge. Roof Options is committed to tracking the evolving uses of roof estate – spanning solar power, rainwater harvesting, wind power, gardens & farms, “cooling” sites, advertising, apiculture, and telecom transmission platforms – to help unlock the nascent, complex, and expanding roofspace asset class.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy. Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation. He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”