Businesses Getting Involved in Green Power Options
Article by Gene Stowe, Tribune Correspondent, from Tribune Business Weekly, South Bend, Indiana, 3/14/11
Home Energy LLC helps businesses and homeowners upgrade to green energy with plans that reduce power costs and bring significant returns on investment.
The plans take advantage of incentives such as grants, tax credits and accelerated depreciation, as well as other utility or state incentives.
"There are many exciting possibilities for businesses and individuals to get involved in solar and wind energy," said Austin Williams, financial manager at Home Energy.
"There is no one size fits all. We deal with situations on a strictly case-by-case basis."
The firm, started in 2000 by longtime construction and renewable energy expert Leon Bontrager, provides free financial assessments for homeowners and businesses.
"Many incentives are available when properly navigated by a trustworthy firm with experience in this industry," Williams said. "Each individual situation is carefully researched, calculated and explained to potential customers so there are no suprises.
"We use conservative forecasts allowing many cases to exceed expectations, not the other way around."
Home Energy deals in solar, wind and solar thermal, or hot water systems. It has performed more than 500 installations.
Company officials designed and installed the first net metering systems in northern Indiana and southern Michigan and worked with both NIPSCO and AEP to write their first net metering agreements. Net metering gives renewable-system owners credit with utilities for the energy their systems produce.
"We have grid-tied, and off grid systems," Williams said. "We sell inverters, batteries and all the components."
Payback on the investment can come in less than five years for small businesses, especially in rural areas with fewer than 50,000 people, with a return of 12 to 18 percent, he said, partly because they qualify for a grant worth one-fourth of the purchase price.
The systems also can qualify any customer for a federal tax credit worth 30 percent of the cost, and the expense can be depriciated in five years. Solar panels have 25-year warranties and life expectancy of 50 years.
