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Solar Asset Investment for Long-Term Utility Bill Savings

July 12th, 2024 | by Anne Brock
ground solar array

Last Updated on July 12, 2024 by Anne Brock

What Motivates You to Explore Solar?

Cutting utility bills.  Lowering operating costs.  Embracing environmental stewardship.  What is YOUR motivation for going solar?  Getting your fair share of the millions and millions of dollars available in energy grants and tax incentives?  This federal financial support for clean, renewable energy is another motivator for businesses looking to stretch dollars while adding valuable assets. 

Your Solar Experts

Solar Alliance provides design, engineering, project management, and construction for businesses investing in solar photovoltaics.  It’s our area of expertise.  We take best practices seriously, with on-site managers maintaining industry standard North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certifications. We also teach a Solar 101 continuing education class for the state of Tennessee for residential building contractors and real estate professionals. 

Diversity of Businesses Adding Renewable Energy Options

These are diverse businesses: from office buildings and farm facilities to data centers, warehouses and manufacturing centers.  Services include facilitating energy grants for qualifying businesses and identifying appropriate power generation solutions for our clients, keeping financial and technical considerations at the forefront.

Greeneville, Tennessee

“We are excited to become the first commercial property in Greene County with Solar panels,” said CHASAN Vice President of Operations Marlin White. “It has been a long-time goal of mine to incorporate green power into Greeneville! Since the launch of this solar panel project, we have had several other tenants reach out about potentially adding solar to their buildings.” 

CHASAN leases an 80,000 square foot East Tennessee facility to Sergeant Sudz & Alpha Automation, which engineers and manufactures motor control centers for the car wash and various automation and control industries. CHASAN uses savings from a USDA Rural Energy for America Program grant, plus federal tax incentives, to offset a large portion of the cost of the rooftop PV installation, passing savings to its tenant.  It offsets nearly 80 metric tons of carbon annually. 

“We are certainly enthused with benefiting from a great energy-saving resource,” said Vice President Subeth Vanderwiele of Sergeant Sudz & Alpha Automation. “Working in the industry of automation, we certainly appreciate and offer energy efficient solutions to all of our customers.”    

Knoxville, Tennessee

A top custom home builder in Knoxville, Tennessee is also leading by example, with solar plus battery storage to cut utility bill costs in half at his office/showroom.   

“I believe as a builder I have a responsibility to offer my clients the latest and best in technology,” said owner Mike Stevens. The 11.2 kilowatt (kW) solar array works in conjunction with a 12 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery storage system. It helps run an electric vehicle charging station for employees.  The system is equivalent to conserving 1,164 gallons of gas each year. 

Rural Kentucky

In Kentucky, Solar Alliance has teamed up with a leading environmentally conscious manufacturer to add renewable energy for its facility.  TENTE is leading the way with Environmental, Social, and Governance that includes its 500.85 kilowatt (kW) rooftop solar installation by Solar Alliance. This offsets carbon emissions equivalent to burning 510,138 pounds of coal annually. 

“ESG and sustainability is something that fits our mold and image here at TENTE so it was never a question of ‘if’ we would implement some type of renewable energy source, but rather ‘when’,” explained TENTE CFO Pierce Kohls. “We set a goal for ourselves here in North America that by 2030 over 50% of our energy needs would come from a renewable energy source.  The current project being supplied by Solar Alliance gets us halfway there.” 

Farragut, Tennessee

Questions about insuring your building with a modern solar array on your rooftop?  Ask State Farm Insurance owner Mansour Hasan of Farragut, Tennessee. His new office rooftop installation cuts utility bills while keeping his staff and customers comfortable. The 12-kilowatt system’s clean energy can offset approximately 10.4 metric tons of carbon each year. 

“I like the fact that it’s a sustainable energy source that we can be using within our community and here within the building,” said Hasan. “And saving money on our utilities is always good in the long term.”  

Rural Energy for America Program Cutting Project Costs in Half

Rural Energy for America Program grants bring some of the strongest historical support ever for solar energy.  Currently, this is a 50% grant program with possible USDA-backed loans bringing federal support to 75% of project costs (plus tax savings). No, you don’t have to be a farmer to take advantage of this. 

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

“I’m not a farmer.  But harvesting the sun on a rooftop on a commercial property is my way of contributing,” said Eric Levin.  He owns and operates a first-class office facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee which he leases to a government entity. The 48.6 kilowatt system has a 30 kilowatt hour battery, so the system is designed to captured unused electricity and save it for another day.  Levin added, “Reducing this electric bill really helps on the bottom line.” 

Long-Term Investment that Saves on Utility Bills

Commercial solar is uniquely unlike other construction projects you might be considering for your business.  A long-term view of solar as an asset that saves money on your utility bills is the most accurate way to understand its benefits.  Prior to receiving federal grants and incentives, you might typically expect an approximate ten-year window for return on investment, although these generous grants are significantly shortening that window for many. The solar modules themselves typically come with a warranty of twenty years or more.  Battery storage adds resilience while further varying the ROI time.  Solar serves today as a financial tool as well as a support for sustainability. It is not your typical construction project. 

Contact Solar Alliance Today to see how Solar can benefit You!

Tips On Where to Start:

If you plan on applying for any federal grants or loans, make sure you are fully registered/updated on this Sam.gov government website https://sam.gov/content/home, including a Unique Entity ID.

Gather a complete set of your last twelve months of utility bills.  If your utility company offers it, request a more detailed version of your usage data, down to 15-minute increments.

Inform your key decision makers by sharing your preliminary information. Make sure they understand that solar is not a typical two-year payback construction project, but a long-term investment that immediately starts saving money on your utility bill operating cost while adding a valuable asset.

Third-Party Resources for Information

Want to explore more third-party resources to learn about the benefits of solar technology for your business?

Here are a few:

U.S. Department of Energy

Federal Solar Tax Credits for Business

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Solar Energy Industries Association

Rural Energy for America Program

Inflation Reduction Act Pocket Guides

Appalachian Solar Finance Fund

Ready to Start Planning an Investment in Renewables for 2025? 

Contact Solar Alliance Today to see how Solar can benefit You!