Some see energy as the latest fashions, embraced by the hippies and the environment, but the reality for many self-storage owners only make economic sense of the Sun. Climate controlled units that produce electricity obscene mixed with an abundance of roof space creates an ideal environment to invest in solar energy. Throw in federal, State and utility incentive-based, and you can make a pretty good return on investment.
Obstacle for many people, however, fixed capital costs in advance and the question, “How I will pay for this?” At a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes approaching, it’s hard to imagine millions of funding the project with cash. Unfortunately, nothing to worry about storage owner, there are several ways to forego capital expenditure fully or installation that uses traditional financial debt and equity.
The most common structure for storing the owner is to regulate the power purchase agreement (PPA), contracts, property owners agree to buy all the electricity generated by the system of a certain price. Under this structure, a third-party developer/installer PPA funding full installation and fully responsible for the maintenance of the system. From the perspective of the owner, the situation is almost ideal for without a capital is used to install the system, and there is no risk of production if not solar panels generate electricity as advertised. In the structure of the PPA, all the risk falls on developers.
The typical structure of PPA will be solar-generate electricity price under the retail rates charged by local utilities. This is a win-win for self-storage owners. Not only do they avoid any capital expenditure, they were able to reduce their monthly utility costs, yet smooth as possible. Of course, the level offered by the developer depending on various factors, including solar incentives and local level competition among the PPA developers.
Some States like New Jersey offers a generous incentive program that allows developers to aggressively compete PPA for business. In addition, because it Put the utility level to compete with local, States with expensive-electricity rates in California, Hawaii and the United States East of the main areas for the PPA’s developers. In other parts of the country where power is very cheap, as in the South and the Midwest, it is more difficult for developers to compete against the PPA.