SUN VS EE FOR PACE INCENTIVE

Two New Enemies: Solar and PACE; A program designed to make energy efficiency cheap has pit solar installers against retrofitters

"…Two of green tech's fastest growing segments -- solar and energy efficiency retrofitting -- have emerged as unlikely and in many ways unwilling antagonists because of the rapid popularity of property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs.

"Under PACE programs, governments provide financing to homeowners to help them buy new furnaces, replace drafty windows, and fill walls or attics with insulating foam. The loan then gets paid off as a supplement to the homeowner's property tax."

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"The problem is that solar panels generally can't qualify for PACE funding until other fixes have been accomplished…In most jurisdictions, PACE funding for solar kicks in after consumers can show a 10 percent reduction in energy consumption, says Cisco DeVries, one of the originators of the PACE concept…

"That second-in-line status burns solar companies. In many instances, homeowners won't be able to achieve the reductions, solar execs assert. PACE programs are also bureaucratic tangles…[T]he program could cause consumers to veer away from solar…Should they really have to wait to get the best deal until they put in insulation?
Additionally, solar installers claim the justification for PACE -- namely, that the gains achieved through energy efficiency retrofits cost less than putting solar panels on the roof -- has shrunk because of the nasty cost cutting that solar has endured…"

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"Matt Golden, president of energy efficiency startup Recurve, says that retrofitting is effectively in the same place that solar was a few years ago. Solar has benefited greatly from subsidies, like the German feed-in tariff and the California Solar Initiative. Now, retrofitting needs a boost from governments to really get moving…Golden and others also argue that efficiency remains cheaper than solar…[and there is already] a 30 percent tax credit for solar. A 30 percent tax credit for retrofits is capped at $1,500…

"Over time, the problem could resolve itself through mergers, i.e., solar installers will become retrofitters and vice versa. An earlier advocate of the comprehensive approach, Standard Renewable Energy, recently got bought by GridPoint, and GridPoint is now in the process of rebranding Standard Renewable. Lowe's works with Akeena on solar and Recurve on retrofits…Recurve is a licensed solar installer…partners with solar companies…[and] has installed solar thermal water heaters…"