Philadelphia Million Solar Roofs 
Community Partnership

SDF Solar PV Program

 

Solar Photovoltaic Program in Southeastern PA

The Board of Directors of the Sustainable Development Fund (“SDF”) has approved a program to support the purchase and installation of solar photovoltaic(“PV”) systems in the PECO Energy service territory. [1]

The key elements of the new program are:

  • grants up to $25,000 for solar PV systems sized between 1 and 5 kW;
  • consumer loans to help residential consumers pay for PV, solar water heating systems or energy efficiency improvements;
  • financial incentives to encourage housing developers to include PV in their housing projects; and
  • loans and other financial incentives to help commercial and industrial customers install PV.
To ensure that the program is supporting quality systems, there will be program standards that address PV hardware and warranties, system installation and PV installer qualifications.

PV Grants

PV grants up to $25,000 will be available for PV systems that are purchased and installed by a PECO Energy distribution company customer (regardless of customer class) that are sized between 1 kW and 5 kW (nominal dc watts at Standard Test Conditions).

The PV grants will be paid to the owner of a qualifying system in two installments. The first payment will be equal to $4 per watt dc (based on the nominal STC rating), up to a maximum payment of $20,000. This first payment to the system owner will be made upon inspection and approval of the installed system.

At the completion of the first 12 months of operation, the system will again be inspected and a reading taken of how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) the system has produced. A second payment will be made at that time to the owner equal to $1 per kWh generated by the system in its first 12 months of operation, up to a maximum payment of $5,000. At the same time, a payment will be made to the system installer equal to $0.10 per kWh generated by the system during these 12 months of operation, up to a maximum payment of $250 per system. These two payments will give both the owner and the installer a significant incentive to monitor system performance and to make certain that the system is performing well. 

PV Hardware Standards

The PV grants will be available for PV systems that have been approved by the Florida Solar Energy Center for the Florida PV Buildings Program, [2] or that use components [3] approved by the California Energy Commission for the California Emerging Renewable Buy-Down Program.

All PV systems that receive financial support under this program must be covered by a full parts and labor warranty for the entire system for two years from the date of installation and an additional limited warranty on parts and components for an additional three years. 

Installation Requirements

To qualify for the PV programs, the placement and orientation of all PV modules must be shown to allow the system to produce not less than 70% of the electrical output on an annual basis of a system with optimal placement and orientation. The PV program adopts a simple methodology for evaluating system installation. [4]

As part of the installation process, the system installer must provide the owner with a manual that explains the operation and safety features of the system and where to call if there are any problems with the system. The system installer must provide the owner with a written statement of how many kilowatt-hours the system is expected to produce each month and written directions for the steps the system owner should take to verify that the system is performing well.

PV Installer Standards

The PV program administrator will maintain a list of PV installers that have met the installer standards established by the program. These standards require that an installer demonstrate a level of proficiency with PV installation as well as operating a financially and legally sound business.

Consumer Loan Program

SDF is also working with an Allentown financial institution to offer unsecured loans ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 to homeowners who want to install PV systems, solar water heating systems, or high-efficiency home upgrades such as heating and air conditioning systems, windows and lighting. There would be no interest and no payments due for 90 days, with no penalty for early payment. These loans would have a term of ten years and an interest rate considerably lower that other unsecured consumer loans. Homeowners would quickly learn if they qualified for the loan through a simple application process. The loans are a variation of the FannieMae home energy loan product. 

Residential Construction Program

This aspect of the PV program will encourage housing developers to install PV systems in a new housing development in the PECO Energy service territory. SDF will have the flexibility to structure an incentive that will work for a developer. One possibility is to provide risk capital to a developer to fund a portion of the predevelopment costs of a housing project. SDF will work to identify potential developers and will negotiate the terms of the incentive on an individual basis.

Larger PV Installations

The final target of the financial assistance is larger PV installations on commercial, industrial and institutional facilities. SDF will be able to provide low-interest commercial loans to customers to finance the installation of PV on their property, to an energy company that sells a PV and energy efficiency package to commercial customers or to an energy business that leases PV systems. These will be negotiated on an individual basis by SDF staff.

Sustainable Development Fund

The Sustainable Development Fund was created by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in the PECO Energy restructuring proceeding. Its mission is to promote renewable energy, energy conservation and sustainable energy businesses. After only a little more than a year in operation, SDF has become known for financing sustainable energy technologies and building connections - connections between environmental advocates, energy companies and regulators, conventional financing sources, and new and rapidly growing businesses that are creating markets for sustainable energy technologies.

SDF is managed by The Reinvestment Fund (“TRF”), a community development financial institution that is dedicated to building wealth and opportunity for low-wealth communities and low- and moderate-income individuals. Visit TRF's website for more information.

Funding for the PV program was provided by the settlement agreement of the PECO Energy/Unicom merger proceeding. SDF will be receiving $1 million a year for four years for the purpose of financing PV systems.

Next Steps

The SDF will be issuing a Request for Proposals in late May to select a PV program administrator who will be responsible for managing the PV grant program. It is expected that the grant program will begin operating sometime during the summer.

People who purchase a PV system after April 12, 2001 will be eligible for the PV grant, provided that their system meets all of the program requirements.

If you are interested in the PV program, we urge you to contact SDF by e-mail (sdf@trfund.com) so that you can be put on a contact list and given updated information about the PV program. 

For more information about SDF’s PV program, check the SDF website. You can also go to the Solar Info Exchange page of this website and post questions or comments under the Fincancing and Incentives section.

 
[1] A copy of the PV program description that was approved by the SDF board is available on the SDF website at www.trfund.com/sdf.
[2] The eligible solar PV systems are listed at:
[3] The eligible PV modules are listed at:
The eligible inverters are listed at:
[4] The methodology uses PVWATTS, a program developed by the National Renewable Energy Lab. For more information, see:
Solar access is to be evaluated using Solar Pathfinder.For more information, see:

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