Solar Resources
Financial
Federal Grant Details1
Grant Information
Information about the Federal grant can be found at: http://www.treas.gov/recovery/1603.shtml.
Preserving your Grant as you near the Expiration Date
As we near the expiration of the grant, there are certain
actions that should take place in order to preserve your right to
the grant. Specifically, you must either begin continuous
construction on the project or pass the 5% Safe Harbor
test. For more details, visit U.S. Treasury FAQs on the Grant
and Chadbourne
and Park's Project Finance Newsletter, page 10, first paragraph
of the section titled "Continuous Construction".
Other key aspects of the Federal Grant include:
- 5% test must be met by the end of December 2010
- The application for the Tax Grant must be submitted before
October 1, 2011
- The system must be commissioned by December 31,
2016
Technical
Solar Modules present little to no Health and Safety
Concerns
Although some thin-film modules may contain hazardous material
(namely Cadmium), the modules Trinity uses do not contain any
hazardous substances and are primarly made from crystalline
silicon material. According to a study completed by
Brookhaven National Lab and the Electric Power Research Institute,
installed silicon-based cells (which Trinity uses) pose minimal
risks to human health or the environment. See http://mydocs.epri.com/docs/public/000000000001000095.pdf for
more details.
Managing shading on your System
Any shading of your system will limit the amount of electricity
it will produce. Ideally, one should ensure no parts of the
system will be shaded between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm for the
entire year. According to NREL (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/46001.pdf),
"For a single-string grid-tied PV system, a shadow can
represent a reduction in power over 30 times its physical
size." This may not, however, always be possible.
As such, Trinity can estimate how much production
loss you may have if some shading is left on your
system.
Module Degradation rates of less than 1%.
Over time, every electrical device in use today becomes less
efficient in its ability to perform the work it was designed to
do. The same is true of solar modules.
According to testing performed by the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, owners of solar electric systems should expect
around a 0.5% degradation rate. See "Comparison of
Degradation Rates of Individual Modules Held at Maximum Power"
for the test results.
Miscellaneous
Carbon Calculator
The EPA provides a calculator to estimate how much your solar
system will benefit the environment. To calculate carbon
equivalencies (such as the number of trees planted or cars removed
from the road), enter the expected energy production from the
system into the following calculator and scroll to the bottom for
the results. To use the calculator, visit
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html.
1 - Please consult your tax advisor for detailed tax related
questions. Trinity Solar does not advise on any personal
or corporate income tax requirements or issues. Use of any
information from this site or any other web site referred to is for
general information only and does not represent personal or
corporate tax advice either express or implied. You are encouraged
to seek professional tax advice for personal income tax questions
and assistance.