Oct. 7, 2014: Solar4America Rolls Out National Program for Fixed Cost Electricity
Initiative Supports American Jobs, Manufacturing, and Energy Independence by Sourcing from Domestic Producers
FREMONT, Calif. — PetersenDean has announced that its Solar4America campaign will begin offering electricity to consumers nationwide at under six cents per kilowatt hour. The program has already been launched in Arizona and California and will roll out to Texas in October, with four other states to follow in the first quarter of 2015.
The program has already generated more than 1,000 new customers in Arizona, which offers a rate of five cents fixed for 30 years.
“Solar4America markets and sells American-made solar energy systems to consumers at a rate that is so low that the net price over 30 years, with all of the tax rebates, yields a kilowatt hour rate at under seven cents in California and much lower in other states,” said Jim Petersen, CEO and founder of Solar4America and PetersenDean Roofing & Solar, a major, full-service, privately held roofing and solar company.
PetersenDean said the announcement is part of its initiative to support American jobs, manufacturing, and energy independence by sourcing solar panels and all system components from domestic producers. Along with American-made panels, each PetersenDean solar system includes Buy American Act-compliant inverters and racking installed by the company’s workforce.
“This year, we will have put over 1,000 American workers back to work and all of our American-made partners are planning expansions over the next few years. Solar4America has also hired over 300 American workers, with plans to hire thousands more over the next three years,” said Erin Clark, president of PetersenDean Roofing & Solar.
Solar4America is a program PetersenDean launched last year to help customers take advantage of not only fixed electricity costs, but tax rebates. The rebate program offers cash rebates to homeowners who purchase their solar power systems rather than lease or choose a power purchase agreement (PPA) option.
“We are absolutely delighted to be the first, the one and only American-only solar brand to be able to offer a cash rebate incentive program to consumers who want to own the benefits of solar savings. Our Power Saver solar products are flying off the shelves and now to be able to further offer incentives to more and more consumers is a dream come true. We see this new one-of-a-kind program capable of scaling across the entire United States,” said Clark.
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Company executives said they launched the program since they believe that owning is a much better option than leasing. Homeowners who opt for a solar lease or a PPA lose some of the benefits that purchasing the system would give them, including the 30 percent tax credit that they forfeit in exchange for a low upfront or zero down option. Moreover, solar leases are long-term agreements, usually on a 20-year term without the ability to buy out or pay off early.
“Now more than ever, it makes sense to buy solar power systems instead of leasing them. The savings are significant, since purchasing a system presently pencils out to about 50 percent less than leasing it over the long term. Recent reports show that the payback period of solar power systems is now as low as three years,” said Clark.
For more information, visit www.petersendean.com.
Publication date: 10/6/2014
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