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Why use Thermal Energy Purchase Agreements
Businesses that
use large quantities of hot water finance their large-scale solar energy
installations using tried-and-true financing vehicles such as capital budgets,
long-term debt, municipal bonds, bank loans, etc. Other Businesses choose to
'Go Solar' through a recent financing innovation known as an "Energy
purchase agreement”.
It should be
noted that solar heated hot water can also provide chilled water for cooling
purposes, using Absorption chillers, if a business has a cooling load.
In the solar
thermal business, hot water energy purchase agreements are known as Thermal
Energy Purchase Agreements (TEPA's).
In a Thermal
Energy Purchase Agreement (TEPA), a separate company finances and owns the
solar heating system and then sells the heat to you, the end user. This enables
you to manage your organization without the hassles or up-front costs of
ownership or long term operations and maintenance, while enjoying all the
advantages of going solar, including predictable long-term heating savings.
The TEPA
approach gives the solar equipment owner the full benefit of the tax credits
and depreciation allowances. This lowers the equipment owner's costs, and the
savings can be passed on to the building owner in the form of lower energy
payments.
How it Works
Net Green
Solar’s financial Investment Partner creates a Solar Investment Trust (SEIT) to
own the solar energy system. The individual owners of the SEIT can take the tax
credit and charge the business using the hot water for the heat delivered from
the solar heating roof system, as well as a small financing and maintenance fee.
The business
using the hot water, without incurring a capital expense, receives solar heat
at a lower predictable cost than it would from traditional heating sources.
Every month the
SEIT partner shall invoice the Business the total amount of kW.hr used, using
the price agreed inside the TEPA documentation. One thing is guaranteed…..the
cost will be less than the Business pays using their existing conventional
system.
In addition, the
business gets a SEIT contractor to monitor and maintain the solar heating
system to ensure steady energy delivery. As the developer, owner, and manager
of the solar heating system, the SEIT assumes the risks and responsibilities of
ownership and operation to deliver solar heat delivery.
If the Business
already has an existing Fossil fuel heating system the SEIT will ensure this
system can function integrated with the Solar system, therefore to ensure the
Business retains its original full hot water capacity.
Once a complete
hot water heating system comes on line, Net Green Solar shall monitor it
through the remote embedded control system. Net Green Solar’s on-staff
engineers shall monitor the system remotely 24/7 and oversee long-term
maintenance with the local installing company, if they have maintenance
capacity, or through other types of local contractors.
The remote
monitoring of the system shall also provide the Business with real time hot
water usage consumption data and the output capacity from the Solar thermal
system.
At the end of
the TEPA Agreement term, the Business has three options: They may renew the
TEPA and continue buying the heat from the SEIT under new terms; purchase the
system at fair market value, estimated at around 10% of the original value; or
dissolve the agreement, and ask Net Green Solar to remove the Solar system heating
components.
Example
of typical Installation:
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Hotel Complex |
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Swimming Pool Complex |
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Other |
Example
of typical Returns for a SEIT
Example
of typical Costs to Business
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Solar Energy
Audit Services
With our solar
energy audit services, we identify opportunities to reduce the energy use
and/or the cost of operating a building or industrial process. Whether it's new
construction, renovation, or retrofit, our audit reports provide building
owners the information they need to decide which of the recommended
modifications they should implement.
To complete an energy audit, we work through the
following processes:
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Collect and analyze
historical energy use
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2.
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Study the building or
process and its operational characteristics
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3.
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Identify potential solar
modifications that will reduce the heating energy use and/or cost
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4.
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Perform an engineering
and economic analysis of potential modifications
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5.
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Prepare a rank-ordered
list of appropriate solar modifications
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6.
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Presentation & Report
the results
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The Key Elements of a Commercial
Building Solar Energy Audit/Analysis are:
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Analysis of two or more
years of utility consumption and cost, review of building plans, review of government and utility incentives, and a walk through of the building itself to establish: |
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Type of building, principal use or heating/cooling process, and physical arrangement, height, etc. |
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Energy Utilization (monthly and annual energy use) in kW.hrs. |
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Delivered cost of heat to the load including energy purchase cost and onsite conversion efficiency (€/kW.hr).
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Breakdown of various heating/cooling systems within the building by type, inlet and outlet temperatures, hours of use, etc. |
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Ideal solar system supporting surfaces, such as existing roofs, walls and open ground. |
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Calculation of solar heat available from each solar surface. |
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Control strategies for the solar energy delivery. |
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Any operations or maintenance problems or practices, which may affect efficiency. |
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Tax and incentive savings and finance alternatives for various solar alternatives. |
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The potential cost savings and economic returns from the installation of solar heating systems. |
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Description and analysis of the energy-using systems of the building, resulting from on-site observation, measurement, and engineering calculations, including: |
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Envelope |
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Domestic hot water |
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Laundry |
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Lighting |
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HVAC and Controls |
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Process systems |
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Utility Providers & Rates |
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Other systems, such as Swimming Pools etc |
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Provide an understandable analysis of findings and observations that will show: |
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Breakdown of the components of annual energy use and cost. |
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Recommended solar heating measures, including predicted savings and cost to implement.
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A description and cost estimate of each recommended solar heating system.
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A description and cost estimate of any measurement and verification methods needed to determine the actual effectiveness of measures.
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An energy analysis summary that includes:
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Present energy use and costs
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Savings from recommended solar heating measures.
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We can provide different levels of solar analysis for a building, or group of buildings, or
industrial processes. Our reports give owners information they can use for variety of purposes. Whether it's contemplating major energy-saving capital
improvements or roof replacement, or new construction or renovation, we can evaluate and recommend a variety of solar measures to save energy and building running costs.
Solar
Project Design Services
We design cost
effective solar heating systems, which provide high rates of return. Our
systems are economical without government subsidies. However, Government tax
incentives can further improve the economics. We know how to design to maximize
the economics in all locations.
We can provide
these solar engineering and energy design services as part of our design-build
capabilities. We can also work with other design professionals and construction
contractors to deliver cost effective solar heating systems.
These design
costs would be included inside the SEIT package of services. The first 3 years
of the energy cost quoted by €/kW.hr to the Business for hot water (and if we
are providing cold water for A/C use) would include these start up design costs.
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Solar Project
Construction Management
Installation and
construction of solar-thermal systems on buildings is both a science and an
art.
Among the many
considerations are:
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Maintaining a weather-tight building envelope.
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Maximizing aesthetics for the public face of the building.
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Minimizing weather hazards to solar equipment such as freezing and boiling of solar fluids.
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Orienting the solar-thermal system to take full advantage of the sun as a heat generator.
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Integrating the solar thermal system with the building’s HVAC system or industrial process.
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Coordinating the project installation with other building service providers, roofers, HVAC companies,
electricians, mechanical contractors, etc.
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Our engineering
staff has decades of hands-on experience in managing major solar thermal and
industrial installations.
Net Green
Solar’s construction management services typically begin during design, and
include:
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Schedule and budget evaluations. |
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Financial incentives
review.
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Alternative financing
analyses.
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Constructability
reviews.
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Weighing project alternatives.
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Structuring Tendering packages for lowest cost construction. |
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Sourcing equipment and supplies.
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Monitoring and coordinating daily construction activities.
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Owner/SEIT meetings and reviews
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Value engineering.
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Solar
Installation Maintenance Regime
We will preferably use the original local
Installation contractor for the regular Maintenance Regime of the Solar Installation
and any related HVAC equipment. If the original Installer does not have this
capacity another local certified Installer would be contracted by the SEIT
partner.
We would expect
a professional relationship to develop between the Business Facility management
team and the Maintenance contractor, to ensure easy and efficient access to the
building.
Solar Systems do
not require that much maintenance due to the limited moving parts required. Net
Green Solar shall be monitoring the system to ensure maximum performance. As a
drop in performance is usually related to some system fault a quick response
from the local Maintenance contractor is guaranteed.
Interested to
going forward with a TEPA?
Study our system
examples listed on this page to give you an idea of what financial returns can
be generated for your business.
If you are
interested please send us an email providing us an indication of your hot water
requirements.
Information such
as:
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Type of Business.
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Location of buildings.
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Hot Water usage.
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Estimated Energy or Hot water annual consumption.
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Type of fuel presently used to generate hot water.
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Chilled water usage for Air conditioning
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We will ask you
for further information and electronic copy of the building layout drawings.
From this initial information we can provide a budget to carryout an on-site
Audit. On acceptance of our proposal we would setup a visit to Facility.
From our
presentation of the Audit results, your input to our suggestions and our final
evaluations we can involve one of our SEIT partners to provide the funding and
Agreement documentation to go forward with you’re your installation.
If you are responsible
for designing a facility, building, or industrial process, contact us to find
out how you can cut your energy use with solar heating, solar heat recovery and
thermal energy management. We can provide unique field tested solar engineering
and energy management expertise that can save you energy and money.
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