Solar Power and the Spanish Lesson

摘要

Residential and small commercial solar DG definitely has the potential to expand, and this will reduce demand for service by the utility. The availability of zero-down financing alternatives will enable many customers who would otherwise not be able to afford these facilities to install them. But even zero-down financing is not an unalloyed good. The home-owner must consider potential back-end costs, particularly if a sale of the home were to occur prior to the scheduled termination of the lease or PPA. Likewise, if RECs or net metering is intended to be part of the overall financing package, both the regulatory regime of the state and its actual operation must be carefully reviewed to determine whether these are in fact available. Solar developers must also advert to the possibility that utilities will continue to try to slow things down, or even, as in the case of Spain, try to impose additional costs on the industry to achieve what they consider a leveling of the playing field.