Let’s give you a couple real world examples.
Tere is a severely underfunded single-family home and common area lighting. Tis community’s clubhouse is actually in need of re-roofing, and they were able to include a new roof from the PPA provider during the install for a slight increase in electricity rate. Te community stands agreement; money that can go to other vital association projects that may not have been able to be funded, and they didn’t have to go out of pocket for a new roof.
In another instance, a fairly large commercial owners territory and are also in need of a new roof. Tey are getting a new roof included in their PPA agreement and stand to save electricity costs.
With all these benefits, why do so few homeowners associations
To understand the complex challenges to deliver solar for associa- tions, one first needs to understand process.
We will discuss the major steps to install solar along with specific challenges during each step.
Prepare a construction scope to ensure apples to apples competitive bids.
1 STEP 8
Perform an analysis to determine if solar is viable.
companies can efficiently evaluate an as- sociation’s electricity usage and determine if solar can be beneficial. However, there are several variables that can be misleading from one analysis to the next, most com- monly the anticipated inflation rate of your current utility provider, as well as the degradation rate of the solar panels. Tis can result in vastly different expected sav- ings and can convolute the true viability of solar for the community. We recom- mend using an electricity inflation rate of 4% and a solar panel degradation rate of
hardware is determined, it is critical that this step be addressed to ensure that the most competitive price on equipment - tractors for bids, it is likely that you will get three very different scopes of work. It is important to engage a construction manager or industry professional to draft a scope of work so that bidding contrac- tors can provide “apples to apples” bids. Te HOA manager or construction man- ager should verify that all bidding con- tractors’ insurance policies don’t exclude them from working for homeowner’s as- sociations or on condominium projects (if applicable).
3 STEP
2 STEP
Assess infrastructure needs, including electrical panel sizes, roof types, and transformer sizes.
Opinions and needs will vary by commu- nity based on the feasibility of being able to install solar in certain areas, and the vi- sual impact it will have on the residents. Careful consideration of the design by the install team needs to occur during the pro- cess to ensure that the project is execut- ed in both a financially feasible method, while also being located in an area that is supported by the community. During this phase, a contractor or construction man- ager will assess if there are any potential major infrastructure costs that will impact benefits from solar. These include replace- ment of electrical panels, re-roofing, and transformer replacement. If a transformer - solar systems.
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