1st American.Solar

Solar farms are sprouting up all over America.  The 30% Federal energy tax credit, combined with state, utility and local solar incentives have created an extremely favorable climate for investment in solar farm technology.

Solar farms can take many forms.  The most common is the PV or photovoltaic solar farm that is built from hundreds or thousands of solar panels mounted on large racks in a field, pasture or desert parcel. 

Site assessment
    1. What is the earth composed of?  What is underneath?   
    2. Is water available to clean the solar arrays/mirrors? 
    3. Are there any zoning issues?
    4. How close are existing power lines and substations?

Financing
    1. National lenders (USDA, EPA, SBA)  
    2. Public/private partnerships
    3. Private investors
    4. Power company PPA

Incentives

    1. Available from Federal and State government and local utilities
           (Energy tax credits, rebates, grants, feed-in tariffs)
    2. RECs (renewable energy credits)

Four great reasons these companies went solar and why you should take your company solar too.

Costco. The Gap. FedEx. Staples. Frito Lay.  Macy’s. BJ’s Wholesale. Toyota Motor Sales USA. Target. Khol’s. Google. Whole Foods. Wal-Mart. Kettle Foods.

Question: What do these companies have in common?                                                                
Answer: They've all invested in solar energy in recent years.

And they’re not alone: A countless number of small and mid-size businesses have gone solar, too. This growing commercial demand may in part explain why the solar sector has seen such phenomenal growth in recent years.

Given these sun-shiny trends, it may be appropriate to ask if all this corporate interest in installing PV is well founded, or whether Wal-Mart and Macy’s have gone completely mad. As it turns out, the management at these companies do actually know what they’re doing. More and more companies are getting solar because it makes both financial and strategic sense.

We present here four ways solar energy can help add real value to your bottom line: (1) Peak shaving; (2) Price-hedging and price “lock-in"; (3) Getting ahead of the regulatory curve; and (4) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Here we go.

(1) Peak Shaving

Large buildings draw a lot of power. Beyond the amount your company pays for the energy it consumes (measured in kilowatt-hours), it may also be subject to something called a “Peak Use Charge." This is because electricity is more expensive during hours of peak demand.

If your building uses a lot of power during this time -- typically during mid-day -- you’re probably being dinged by a stiff surcharge. This amount can sometimes be higher than the charge for the actual energy consumed!

(2) Price “Lock In" and Price Hedging

Nationwide electrical rates vary from $0.145 kWh in Arizona to $0.28 kWh in Southern California to as high as $0.34 kWh in Hawaii. Those rates raise, on average, 4.9% per year.

By taking advantage of First American Solar Technology's equipment lease or purchasing and taking advantage of available state and federal tax credits you can lock your rate at $0.5 to $0.7 per kWh for the next 25 to 30 years.

 (3) Getting ahead of the regulatory curve

It's no longer a question of if the the U.S. will apply a price to carbon emissions -- it's not even a question of when -- it's happening right now!

Accordingly, many corporations are already building the new carbon regulations into their current strategic plans.

More and more companies are coming to view solar energy as a means of driving real returns on investment. Primary motivations can vary a bit from company to company. Regardless of whether your company seeks to reduce long-term costs, hedge against rising and often fickle energy prices, enhance its role as an environmental leader, or prepare for the inevitable -- carbon legislation -- solar energy is proving to be an effective means toward these ends.

 (4) Corporate Social Responsibility

It’s clear that CSR is here to stay -- and the world will no doubt be a better place because of it. Solar energy clearly improves both your company’s environmental and economic bottom lines. Put simply, it is clean, carbon net-negative technology.

 Solar power not only offers the chance to contribute to responsible environmental stewardship, it represents a compelling -- and effective -- narrative with which to achieve your company’s external communications goals. In brief, it’s a win-win.

Four great reasons these companies went solar and why you should take your company solar too.

Costco. The Gap. FedEx. Staples. Frito Lay.  Macy’s. BJ’s Wholesale. Toyota Motor Sales USA. Target. Khol’s. Google. Whole Foods. Wal-Mart. Kettle Foods.

Question: What do these companies have in common?                                                                
Answer: They've all invested in solar energy in recent years.

And they’re not alone: A countless number of small and mid-size businesses have gone solar, too. This growing commercial demand may in part explain why the solar sector has seen such phenomenal growth in recent years.

Given these sun-shiny trends, it may be appropriate to ask if all this corporate interest in installing PV is well founded, or whether Wal-Mart and Macy’s have gone completely mad. As it turns out, the management at these companies do actually know what they’re doing. More and more companies are getting solar because it makes both financial and strategic sense.

We present here four ways solar energy can help add real value to your bottom line: (1) Peak shaving; (2) Price-hedging and price “lock-in"; (3) Getting ahead of the regulatory curve; and (4) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Here we go.

(1) Peak Shaving

Large buildings draw a lot of power. Beyond the amount your company pays for the energy it consumes (measured in kilowatt-hours), it may also be subject to something called a “Peak Use Charge." This is because electricity is more expensive during hours of peak demand.

If your building uses a lot of power during this time -- typically during mid-day -- you’re probably being dinged by a stiff surcharge. This amount can sometimes be higher than the charge for the actual energy consumed!

(2) Price “Lock In" and Price Hedging

Nationwide electrical rates vary from $0.145 kWh in Arizona to $0.28 kWh in Southern California to as high as $0.34 kWh in Hawaii. Those rates raise, on average, 4.9% per year.

By taking advantage of First American Solar Technology's equipment lease or purchasing and taking advantage of available state and federal tax credits you can lock your rate at $0.5 to $0.7 per kWh for the next 25 to 30 years.

 (3) Getting ahead of the regulatory curve

It's no longer a question of if the the U.S. will apply a price to carbon emissions -- it's not even a question of when -- it's happening right now!

Accordingly, many corporations are already building the new carbon regulations into their current strategic plans.

More and more companies are coming to view solar energy as a means of driving real returns on investment. Primary motivations can vary a bit from company to company. Regardless of whether your company seeks to reduce long-term costs, hedge against rising and often fickle energy prices, enhance its role as an environmental leader, or prepare for the inevitable -- carbon legislation -- solar energy is proving to be an effective means toward these ends.

 (4) Corporate Social Responsibility

It’s clear that CSR is here to stay -- and the world will no doubt be a better place because of it. Solar energy clearly improves both your company’s environmental and economic bottom lines. Put simply, it is clean, carbon net-negative technology.

 Solar power not only offers the chance to contribute to responsible environmental stewardship, it represents a compelling -- and effective -- narrative with which to achieve your company’s external communications goals. In brief, it’s a win-win.

Power your non-profit organization with clean, sustainable solar power and free your budget from energy costs

Today, many non-profit and government organizations — schools, churches, and other entities — are demonstrating environmental leadership in their communities by going solar. Non-profit organizations are often big consumers of electricity and a cash investment in a solar electric system is challenging because they are not eligible for Federal tax incentives available to commercial entities.

Churches and other non-profit institutions often look to solar as a way to reduce their operating expenses while aligning with their sustainability and community goals. Unfortunately non-profits find themselves unable to utilize the Investment Tax Credit (30% Federal Tax Credit) for project costs.  1st American Solar has the solution to that problem.

1st American Solar’s Value Proposition

1st American Solar has developed a novel, patent pending approach to offer Church’s, Synagogues, Mosques, Schools, and non-profits the opportunity to:

Secure their financial future by owning solar with no up-front cost,
and no money out of pocket;

Begin savings on day one;

Stay cash flow positive for the life of the equipment;

Stabilize their electricity bill at lower rates for the next 25 years;

Realize significant cash savings over that period;

In many cases, does not require a lien or mortgage on property;

Provides for the operation & maintenance of solar equipment;

Increases community energy independence.

1st American Solarprovides financial Product that Invests in the Future

The 1st American SolarEnergy Program is based on a unique cooperation model between denominational church authority and private investors, who have the ability to use tax incentives offered by the Federal government to lower the cost of solar systems, and therefore the price of electricity paid by the church every month.

Solar Financing – We Offer:

A Pre-Paid Solar Service Agreement (SSA) Allows the nonprofit & the investor to share Federal Tax Credits.

Combined with a 15 or 20 Year Long Term Low Interest Fixed Rate Loan

$0 Down Payment, Positive Cashflow Savings From Day One

Our method allows the Church, Church, Synagogue or Mosque Schools, and non-profits to take advantage to take advantage of the previously unattainable tax credits while attaining a loan payment structure that unlike a PPA has no annual escalation and no end of term buy-out

Our system allows Church, Synagogue or Mosque Schools, and non-profits to have the best worlds making the choice to go solar a financial “No-Brainer”.In a few states such as California non-profit organizations are eligible for special solar rebate incentives, which make the investment very affordable. For government agencies, schools or non-profit organizations, the rebates are typically 20% higher than the standard rebates.

With the unique needs of non-profit organizations in mind, First American Solar Technology will design a solar energy system specifically tailored to maximize your energy savings while keeping your upfront costs affordable.

Whether you are a civic facility, a school, a church, or local charity, your organization can benefit from making the switch to solar power.

 Installing solar on the Farm in the southwest is the next step in the evolution of sustainability. We are already harvesting and eating locally grown food, so it only makes sense that our next step is to produce our own electricity right where we need it, on the farms that feed us.

Solar power is now the perfect investment for farms, with a 20 year guaranteed income stream ensuring maximum return for your solar investment.

Engineered and built in the USA, they are the most rugged and reliable trackers available and are designed to withstand the harshest winter conditions. Utilizing commercial grade solar modules and industry leading string and micro inverters.

Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) combine proven solar technology with traditional building materials. It is an exciting technology that allows solar systems to be an integrated part of buildings and structures, replacing conventional building materials.

BIPV can take many shapes and forms. Integrated Photovoltaics can be installed in a wide variety of applications such as skylights, roofing, walls balcony rail and windows.

BIPV is perfect for public areas such as bus shelters, walkway covers and atrium style building entries where they provide both attractive protection from the elements and energy production.

BIPV can be added to an existing building, or designed as part of a new construction.

The BIPV solution enables

Energy efficient buildings

Added architectural and visual interest

Energy production where space is limited

Innovative Technology: First American Solar Technology’s frameless "glass-on-glass" technology in an innovative solution for solar constructions. It is ideal for shading windows, replacing walls or skylights, and creating transparent roofing structures.

Custom-Made: Each structure and project is different. First American Solar Technology can customize the modules to meet your building's requirements. These Modules are Made right here in America, unlike our competitors who import their product from China

CLEANEST, LONG-DURATION STORAGE WITH NO CAPACITY DEGRADATION AT THE LOWEST COST FOR COMMERCIAL AND UTILITY SCALE PROJECTS

UNLIMITED CYCLING WITH NO DEGRADATION

The Iron Flow Battery we provide is capable of multiple cycles per day, allowing customers to participate in the market unconstrained to the standard “once-per-day” cycle-limit regimes imposed by other technologies. There is no performance degradation or augmentation required over our technology’s 25-year useful life.

ENERGY STORAGE FOR CRITICAL PROJECTS

Utilizing earth-abundant iron, salt and water for its electrolyte, and simple materials for battery components, the Energy Warehouse TM (EW) from ESS Inc. is a durable, environmentally safe, long-duration storage solutionthat is ideally suited for:

· Time-shifting renewable energy on a daily basis.

· Managing a facility’s demand or TOU charges.

· Smoothing the intermittency of renewables on a constrained grid.

· Increasing resiliency and fuel efficiency for remote locations.

The EW has a lifespan that exceeds 20,000 cycles, low maintenance requirements, and an energy capacity of 4+ hours. It is complementary to the 25-year lifespan of solar and wind projects, and supports those applications’ low levelized cost of energy requirements.

Concurrent with serving these applications, the EW’s inherent quick-response power electronics can perform ancillary services such as voltage and frequency support on microgrids and utility-scale applications.

Instantaneous, Long Duration Performance

The Iron Flow Battery has a less than one millisecond DC bus response time, making it highly suitable for bulk energy shifting and ancillary services. It can go from charge to discharge instantaneously, with no risk of performance degradation. The graph to the right depicts the system power to state-of-charge of the Iron Flow Battery through the charge/discharge process.

Hazard-Free Energy Storage

The Iron Flow Battery is comprised of earth-abundant iron, salt and water. The system’s environmentally benign characteristics, containing no hazardous chemicals or rare-earth metal, make it the easiest-to-permit storage technology in the world. The Iron Flow Battery has no fire, chemical or explosive risk, eliminating the need for fire-suppression, secondary containment, and hazmat requirements. In addition, the system is fully recyclable at end-of-life.

Lowest Cost of Ownership

The Iron Flow Battery provides the lowest overall cost for applications that require 4+ hours of energy storage due to its 25-year useful life, no degradation, no system augmentation, and hazard-free composition. Due to the technology’s ability to store energy for over 8 hours, it is ideal for renewable generation firming, demand- side management, peak hour replacement, microgrids, and grid enhancement applications.

TECHNOLOGY

The all-iron redox (reduction-oxidation) flow battery technology is based on the simplicity of the electrochemical ferrous/iron plating reaction on the negative side and the ferrous/ferric redox reaction on the battery’s positive side.

The EW is a flexible long-duration energy storage system that safely and effectively addresses the broadest range of energy and power applications at a lower Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) than other technologies on the market.

Planning

First American Solar Technology provides planning for projects including residential, commercial and utility scale projects with complete engineering services to solve the site problems and complete a design.  Our focus is to provide solutions for all PV solar installations including the following:

Site Evaluations

Site Surveys and Mapping

Soils Information and Foundation Testing

Site Layout, Grading and Drainage Plans

Site Permitting and Public Presentations

Optimized Racking and Foundation Solutions

Installations Control and Training

Construction Staking and QA/QC Services

We specialize in Difficult Project Sites— Hillsides, Rocky or Hard Ground, Environmental Issues and Tough Mitigation Requirements