Financing Efficiency Improvements in Visual Studio .NET

Printer QR Code ISO/IEC18004 in Visual Studio .NET Financing Efficiency Improvements

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Looking into the various incentives and assistance programs available Using loans to finance your energy-efficiency projects Working with banks and financial institutions

lot of government programs are geared toward helping consumers make efficiency improvements These range from solar subsidies to Department of Energy programs designed to help you decide which appliances are the most energy-efficient Not only can you get information, but you can also get free money in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, and rebates I d rather have free money, so I focus more on that aspect in this chapter Utility companies also offer a range of programs, including free information as well as free money The programs available are too numerous for me to list in detail, and they re constantly changing, so I tell you how to research the benefits they offer on your own Last but not least, you may want to consider financing your energy-efficiency improvements via a loan I tell you the best way to go about doing so, and I give you some tips on how to work with banks

Many different types of government assistance are available, and it pays to understand exactly how the various programs differ from each other For those skeptics out there who are howling, There s no such thing as a free lunch, I m with you 100 percent But if you take into account how much money you pay in taxes and utility bills, all you re really doing here is getting some of it back, and that s hardly a free lunch It s more like paying for somebody else s lunch for three days in a row, and then having them pay for part of yours one day

Rebates are money that s given back to a customer after a purchase is made You re probably familiar with rebates for consumer goods like appliances, and energy-efficiency rebates operate basically the same way But being born of government, the latter are laden with details generally incomprehensible to the average layperson The way solar rebates work in California serves as an example of the complexity involved For a PV system, you can get up to 25 percent of the system s cost in rebates, but the actual amount depends on the system s productivity (PV stands for photovoltaic, which is a solar electrical generating apparatus) The state has a very specific computer program that predicts system performance Inputs are Your geographical location: Data banks have been created with the statistical weather patterns in your area The size and orientation of your solar collectors: The greatest solar exposure comes from a specific roof angle (depending on your latitude) and a specific azimuth angle namely, true south Whether your solar collectors are in full sunshine or not: If a tree or building shades your solar collectors, they collect less sunlight energy, which is a form of inefficiency The efficiency of your system: This is also related to a system s productivity For a perfect solar location, the state will rebate 25 percent of the cost of your solar system Most rebates come in at around 20 to 24 percent When they come in much lower than that, your solar investment quickly loses allure and cost effectiveness declines The rebate is paid directly to the professional solar contractor, so the customer does not need to finance the entire investment and then wait to get the rebate back This is a good facet because it means you don t have to front the money A buy-down caveat complicates the matter even further As time progresses, the rebates are scheduled to decrease, which encourages solar customers to buy now rather than later Ideally, as the rebates diminish, prices will come down due to market forces so the net cost of a system won t change over time (Well, okay But when do government programs ever work the way they re supposed to On the other hand, just be glad you don t get all the government that you pay for) As you can see, free government money comes with some complexity and many strings attached, and it pays to understand the details But it s free money, so what s the beef