Church Co-op equals Cheap Solar Power
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
I love Costco! I feel like I’m always getting a bargain when I shop there. I buy in bulk and save big! The power of the masses is used to lower prices and give us incredible savings. That’s how I came up with the idea of a Solar Co-op for Churches.
What does it cost to install Solar? The installed cost of solar panels runs between $7 to $9 per watt, so a 5 kW system would cost on the order of $35,000-$45,000 and an 8 kW system would be anywhere from $56,000 to $72,000 and a 15 kW system (which is recommended for the average church) would run about $105,000- $135,000. Many utility companies are offering incentives with some subsidizing as much as 50% of the cost of the system. In California the State has about a 20% incentive and the Federal Government has about a 30% incentive. This still makes the system very expensive with a payback of over 10-15 years.
The Solar Co-op Concept: What if through the purchasing power of many churches a Co-op could be formed in order to purchase the PV panels and inverters wholesale and then install a much more affordable system? It is possible, and this is exactly what CharestCorp is in the process of finalizing. Churches from all over the West Coast will be banding together to get affordable low cost power and a needed hedge against ever rising energy costs.
How much can we save? CharestCorp’s initial investigation shows that costs could be very low with saving of up to 40%. This means a system could be paid for and producing free power in almost half the time as first thought. Imagine in 5 years having a system that practically eliminates your energy bill!!!
How does a Non Profit get tax incentives? Simply put you don’t. However, CharestCorp as the purcahser and solar installer/contractor is a “for profit” corporation and does benefit from the tax incentives. Therefore, we simply pass the savings on to the church to allow them the same savings as any other “for profit” company. This passing on of savings is exactly why CharestCorp was created and our mission statement inspires us to continually find ways to help grow the Body of Christ and lessen the burden of minstry. It is important to note however, that some gap financing will be needed to pay for the product between installation and the receiving of the tax incentives.
How do I get involved? Simply go to our website at www.charestcorp.com/contact.php and request to be put on our mailing list for updated information of how to purchase your system through this church co-op. Once we have a list of possible clients we can determine the overall savings from mass purchasing at wholesale prices. Our goal is to partner with 500 churches which will represent incredible purchasing power. Currently we have interest with about one third of our goal and we are hoping to meet the total figure by summer of 2010.
So, if you are interested in saving big and being set free of your power bill, now is your time to work together with other congregations and help create this exciting new Church Solar Co-op . Once again go to www.charestcorp.com/contact.php and request to be placed on our mailing list.
FREE POWER- FLEE POWER BILLS
