The time to jump into SOLAR is … NOW! Lindsay Joye, P.E. Solar Program Manager City of Palo Alto Utilities November 5, 2015

Solar Project Considerations Economic Climate is Changing Federal Incentives Energy Delivery Options & Benefits Ownership and Operation Options Procurement Steps & Resources

Palo Alto Solar Potential

Lower PV System Costs Source: Dept. of Energy,, Tracking the Sun VIII

Commercial PV System Costs Source: Dept. of Energy, Tracking the Sun VIII PV MODULE COST

6 FEDERAL Incentives  Federal Accelerated Depreciation –5 years for a 25 year technology  Federal Tax Credit –30% for PV systems installed by 12/31/16 –On 1/1/17: Drops to 10% for commercial and 0% for residential unless federal legislation extends

US PV Installation Forecast 2017 Fed. Tax Credit Reduction

8 Energy Delivery Options 1) PV connected on Customer-side of meter –“Net Energy Metered” common in US –Use energy on-site, lower utility bill –Hedge against future rate increases –Excess energy is credited using retail rates 2) PV connected on utility-side of meter –“Feed-in tariff” common in Europe –Sell all energy to City of Palo Alto –Receive payment based on a fixed price for year term

9 Palo Alto Rebates for Net Energy Metered PV  $13M budget created in 2007  6.5 MW goal  Allocations based on electric rate type (Res/NonRes)  $500k remaining for small/medium commercial accounts (rate E-2 or E-4)  Rebates paid for 5 years based on monthly generation  Reserve your rebate once you have a purchase contract, get 12 months to install

10 Net Energy Metering Billing  Net Energy Metering (NEM) billing values electricity delivered between solar customer & utility using same retail rates  CA law mandates utilities offer NEM until they reach the 5% cap (9.5 MW for Palo Alto)  Palo Alto expects to reach cap in 2017  Working on successor NEM program to reduce subsidies across solar and non-solar customers  Act now to capture a higher ROI!

11 Palo Alto CLEAN “Feed-in Tariff”  Clean Local Energy Accessible Now  Interconnected on utility side of meter  CPAU buys electricity, renewable energy credits and capacity attributes  Current price: $0.165/kilowatt-hour (kWh)  Fixed for year term  Helps meet Renewable Electricity goals

12 PA CLEAN: Ideal Candidate  Commercial property with good solar access  May develop the project themselves (has tax equity)  Or lease the roof to a solar developer  Property owners whose tenants pay the electric bills

13 Ownership Options TPO Benefits= no upfront cost, lower monthly bills, performance guarantees!

PV Procurement Timeline - ID potential sites - Get multiple bids - Evaluate ownership and delivery options - Contracts need to be signed by March 2016 for December interconnection

Resources Joint Venture Silicon Valley  - Solar Procurement webinarswebinars  - Sample procurement documents (RFP’s, PPA’s)RFP’s, PPA’s) Your Peers in Silicon Valley:  - SAP, EPRI, HP, VA Hospital, Stanford Hospital, Cooley Godward Kronish, JCC…

16 CONTACT INFORMATION Lindsay Joye, P.E