Financing
Ely Beach Solar offers flexible financing options to help make solar thermal even more affordable. The benefits from installing a solar thermal system are numerous, but sometimes getting that initial payment fit into your annual budget can be a bit challenging. With various financing options you can start realizing the financial savings from a solar thermal system immediately. What makes financing options so attractive for solar thermal is that you save money each month on your energy bill while simultaneously making payments toward your system. In many cases, the savings on your energy bill are greater than your monthly payments—allowing you to save money right from the start! Ely Beach will work with you and your organization to uncover the financing option that works best for your particular circumstances. Some available financing options include: Power Purchase Agreements Ely Beach offers power purchase agreements (“PPA") for our clients who are not looking to make the initial investment, but would like a solar thermal system. The way a power purchase agreement works is that Ely Beach will maintain ownership over the system and charge you a specified rate per therm of heat delivered to your building. Under this structure Ely Beach owns all the solar property and will enter into a lease for keeping the property on your site. Each month you will pay a bill to Ely Beach for the amount of energy your facility used at the specified rate per therm. We offer two type of power purchase agreement, one where the client puts no money down and the other where an initial payment is made in exchange for a reduced per therm energy rate. Under either scenario the client gets a solar thermal system up and running and immediately can reduce their energy costs. Solar Leases A solar lease is also an option that avoids the upfront costs of a solar thermal system. Under this model the client pays little or nothing down for the installation of the solar thermal system and pays a monthly rate for the ability to use the system. Similar to an equipment lease, over time the system can be purchased by the client at the end of the lease term. A solar lease is similar to a PPA except that instead of paying for the energy produced you are making payments for the equipment at a fixed rate regardless of the amount of energy produced. This model also gets your system up and running quickly without having budget for the initial investment. Bank Loans Other options for financing solar thermal systems can come from ordinary sources such as refinancing or bank loans. In many cases the amount you save on your energy costs will offset the interest on the loan, making this a viable financing option to overcome the initial set-up and installation expenses. You also will begin to see savings in the first month when your loan payment is less than your energy bills used to be.