A ballasted solar PV mount is a graceful, highly engineered solution that secures the array without damaging the flat roof. It is compatible with the usual framed photovoltaic modules and typically does not require roof penetrations. Made from lightweight and strong aluminum construction, this Uni-rack Rapid Rack G-10 system is at a 10-degree tilt and will look pretty sweet when it’s done.

Right now our team is setting up the base of the system, which includes the ballast block trays which each have a 4″x8″x16″, 26-pound cement  block in each tray.  There are 5.5 blocks per panel, to keep it properly weighted down.

In these photos you can see the 30# strips of 36″ wide tar paper below the blocks, trays, and ballast frames.  You’ll notice that there are rocks on the roof.  This is to protect the EDPM membrane.

In our next post, we’ll start to show the racking and panel installation.  In the final post, expect pictures of the finished system.

In the talk I mentioned that there has been some question as to whether the 30% federal tax credit for renewable energy installation (which is no cap and can be carried forward for multiple years), is to be taken on the gross cost of the system or the net cost (after applied utility grants) of the system.

Turns out it’s either — depending on your system, residential or commercial, according to Kenton D. Swift, PhD, CPA, Associate Professor of Accounting, The University of Montana, School of Business Administration.

He was in the audience at my talk and was kind enough to approach me afterward to further discuss this question.  After some research he got back to me via email with the following information:

I wanted to give you a little information about one part of your presentation. When a homeowner installs a solar pv system, and receives a utility rebate, they need to reduce the cost of the system by the utility rebate before calculating the 30% federal tax credit. For instance, if the system costs $13,000 and the utility rebate is $6,000, the credit would be 30% of $7,000 or $2,100. This is actually the way you calculated the credit in your presentation, but you hinted it might be possible to take the 30% credit on the full cost. This seems to be a common confusion.

There are actually two separate 30% federal income tax credits, one for personal residences (IRC Code Sec. 25D), and one for business (IRC Code Sec. 48). Generally, the credits are the same except for this one issue about netting utility rebates. The law requires that the rebate be netted against the cost before calculating the 30% credit when taking the residential credit (IRC Code Sec. 25D). I have attached a recent letter from the IRS chief counsel’s office which describes this netting process. Again, it is the same way you actually did your example at the meeting, which is great.

For the 30% federal BUSINESS credit (IRC Code Sec. 48) there is no specific requirement to net the utility rebate against the cost of the system, before calculating the credit. Actually, there does not seem to be any current law explaining what to do. Thus, I believe that when taking the business credit, most taxpayers take the credit on the full cost of the system, before utility rebates. This is a better result than one can get when calculating the residential credit.

I hope that helps to clarify a confusing issue, which you have handled very well.

Someone at the meeting also asked about the property tax exemption for solar pv systems in Montana. Kent went on to clarify that “such systems are exempted from property taxes for 10 years.”

At SBS Solar we go to the DSIRE database for all of this information and have even been referred to this site by the IRS when we called them about the above questions!  This is also the site that Kent relies on for much of his information, or confirmation of information.  He notes that he has “checked their information for many states, and it always seems to be up-to-date, when I compare their explanation to state law.”

Feel free to be in touch with SBS Solar on your energy conservation incentive questions, or to get a project started in Montana.

1.  Why did you decide to install solar panels?

When we first bought our home, we realized that the south-facing roof offered an opportunity for solar photovoltaic panels and solar hot water.  We want to minimize our environmental impact and installing solar panels is one of the easiest ways to do so.

Kristi feels strongly that every south-facing roof is wasted space that should be generating electricity.  Industrial forms of “green” energy like commercial wind and solar farms impact a lot of habitat for wildlife, or in the case of solar farms, replace the habitat completely with solar panels.  Rooftop solar units have no effect on natural habitat, so they are a much greener way to meet our energy needs than industrial energy facilities.

We were considering refinancing our home to take advantage of low-interest rates at about the time we were reminded of the subsidies available for installing solar photovoltaic panels.  Once we had the roof evaluated for solar power potential and had received a bid for the installation (along with an estimate of the subsidies), we knew we wanted panels.

8-panel, 2kW Solar PV system

2.  Did you encounter any challenges during the installation process?

The first challenge for us was approval from the homeowners association for our installation. Our installer prepared drawings showing the appearance of the eight panels mounted on our roof. We took to the drawings to our immediate neighbors and discussed our plans. All but one of the neighbors were supportive and the remaining neighbor said that while he didn’t want to look at solar panels on our roof, he understood why we wished to install them and would respect whatever decision the homeowners association reached. The association’s architectural review board approved our request.

The next challenge was a couple of tall non-native trees growing in our yard. We were considering having them removed anyway, but did so promptly after we learned that they would shade the panels. We still have some shading in winter from our aspen trees, but the effects on our power production are minimal. We left the trunk of one of the trees standing as a wildlife snag.

3. How long will it take for your system to pay for itself?

If the price of electricity stays in the range of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour and our photovoltaic system produces 2,289 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year as estimated, the system should pay for our cost of installation in 15 years (the system has a 25-year warranty).  If the price of electricity goes up, the recovery period may be much shorter. If the price of electricity goes down, we may never recover the cost of installation.

Our cost was much less than the system’s total cost of $12,629. We received a subsidy of $6,000 from Northwestern Energy for our 2-kilowatt installation and federal (almost S2,000) and state income tax refunds ($1,000).

Our system includes microinverters that  convert the DC electricity produced at each panel to AC electricity we can use in our home or return to the grid for use by other Northwestern Energy customers. The microinverters reduce the risk that more than one panel will be affected by shading and are provide real-time monitoring of the power being produced by each panel.

Our account is credited if we produce more electricity than we use (only likely during the summer). This arrangement allows us to receive full benefit of all the power we produce without requiring us to buy a bank of batteries to store power.

We do expect that our home will be easier to sell and may command a higher price because of the panels.

4.  How do you see your solar panels contributing/fitting into the larger Missoula effort against climate change?

Our purchase reflects our personal values, greatly influenced by subsidies offered by the power company and federal and state governments. Even though Missoula’s solar energy potential is not as high as in areas with more sun, our community could reduce our environmental impact if more of us took advantage of the subsidies that turn roofs into power plants.

What sort of lessons has the process of installing your own solar panels taught you?

Snow melts quickly off our south-facing roof. We had expected the snow to melt just as quickly off the panels. It doesn’t. The panels, mounted an inch or so above the roof, have cold air beneath them.

We use a pole-mounted plastic snow rake to clear snow from the panels and onto our deck.  The deck never used to get shoveled, but it does now.

In general, we were extremely lucky. The cost of solar panels has dropped dramatically in recent years and the cost is still dropping. The installer handled the $6,000 reimbursement from Northwestern Energy so we didn’t have to pay that cost up front. The remaining up-front costs weren’t a problem because we refinanced our home loan when interest rates were at record lows.

The panels were installed on schedule at the agreed-upon cost.  Within a week after our panels were operating, Northwestern Energy installed the special meter that gives us credit for the electricity we produce.

During December, our solar panels produced just 18 percent of the electricity we used, but as the days became longer, the panels produced 30 percent of the electricity we used during January and 43 percent during February.

We enjoy having the panels and we’re happy to see them producing more electricity as the days keep getting longer.

Bert Lindler and Kristi DuBois

While we are super sad to be leaving our cool office cooperative on S. 4th W. (ho. hum.), we are very excited for our new office at 401 S. Orange St., Suite C on the corner of S. 2nd W. and S. Orange streets.  In reality, it is only about 4-blocks from our current spot.  (We are in the old Missoulian Angler building.)

The new office will give us parking, great drive-by visibility along Orange Street, easy access to Downtown and Midtown, a large entry/display area, separate offices for each of us and a great conference room with a deck. (can you say 4pm deck meetings in summer….)

A small remodel begins THIS WEEK and we plan to be in there and open by the end of November.  In our new space we will have standard retail office hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-5pm and Fridays from 10am-2pm or by appointment.

Check out the changes as you drive by and come for a visit soon.

NEW LOGO: SBS is now SBS-Solar

With this in mind, SBS is changing it’s name to SBS-Solar.  We’re keeping the “SBS’ part (sustainable building systems) and adding the”Solar” for a better representation of what we actually do.  SBS-Solar will have a heavier emphasis on Solar and continue its energy efficiency work in the form of home and business energy audits, third-party verification, consulting, and retrofitting.

In addition to the name change, SBS-Solar  is proud to unveil our new website.

Same URL: www.SBSLink.com.  Totally New Look.

You should find a cleaner feel, more information, and better organization.  We still feature our solar calculator, project examples and staff information. Highlights include an ever expanding solar and efficiency glossary, explanation of our staff certifications and memberships, and a greatly expanded services section including ground source heat pumps.  Expect to see a more robust project area with photo shows and videos, and an expanded glossary in the coming months.

Check it out and let us know what you think.