The Newsletter of the Arizona Solar Energy Association                2010

ASEA 2010-2011 Board Elections Have Been Completed

The ASEA Board of Directors Election for 2010 was completed on May 2. A formal announcement will be emailed to members shortly. Thanks to all members who participated in our first web-based election.

Report on APS Incentive Rebate Reduction Hearing

by Michael Sawicky

Yesterday I spent the whole day at the Arizona Corporation Commission so that I could learn first-hand how they would rule on the APS request to reduce the Incentive Rebate to from $3.00 down to $2.15.

The Commission approved the change (to $2.15/watt), but only after making four amendments. These amends, along with some other information that was revealed during public testimony and questioning, are of material interest to solar contactors as well as customers. The items below describe the major points of interest.

Carve-out for Solar Thermal – An amended was made that requires APS to set aside $900,000 of the remaining 2010 residential incentive funds specifically for solar water heating.

Cut-off Date for $3.00/Watt Applications – An amendment was made that set the cut-off April 2nd 2010 as the cut-off date for reservation applications at the $3.00/watt incentive level. This means that about 4 million dollars of the incentive funds were consumed over the three days of 3/31 to 4/2, which effectively depletes the fund until July 1st. (see the last note below)

APS Transparency – An amendment was made that requires APS to report on its website at the beginning of each week the amount of Residential UFI funding remaining for the current reservation period and the number of new reservations confirmed by APS in the past week along with any project cancellations that have occurred in the same period.

Reservations for Remainder of 2010 – An amended was made that requires the remainder of 2010 be divided into tranches of funding: April 1st to July 1st, July 2nd to October 1st, October 2nd to December 31st. At least $5 million is to be reserved for the second tranche. If all of the 2010 funds are exhausted during the second tranche, APS can initiate reservations in the third tranche that will be funded after January 1st 2011. (This effectively brings additionally reservation approvals into 2010.)

No More Applications Approved Until July 1st – During the proceedings, APS testified that all of the funds for the “1st tranche” have already been depleted. This seems to mean that no additional applications can be approved until after July 1st.

Future Incentive Levels – Based on the testimony given, it seems likely that the incentive will be reduced again in October down to $1.95/watt because the program will have met the volume threshold that requires such a reduction. For similar reasons, it is likely that beginning in 2011 the incentive will be reduced to $1.75/watt.


Michael Sawicky
Solar Broker
Solar Savant, LLC
www.SolarSavant.net

Note: This article was first posted on the AZ Solar Center Group Mailing List.

ASEA Annual Membershp Meeting: January 23, 2010

12:00-3:00pm
Granite Reef Senior Center Room 2, Scottsdale AZ

Please join the Arizona Solar Energy Association for our annual membership meeting. Lunch will be provided for members ($5.00 non-members) starting at 12:00pm, with the meeting at 12:30pm. After the meeting, we will be having a speaker, topic to be distributed once we have confirmation. We also will discuss planning progress for the 2010 American Solar Energy Society Conference taking place in Phoenix this May, as well as volunteer opportunities associated with the conference. This will also be the last chance to nominate individuals for the ASEA board of directors in 2010.

Please RSVP to Carole Mars (CaroleMars9003@msn.com) if you are planning on attending so we can order luch accordingly.

Thank you and look forward to seeing you next weekend!

Granite Reef Senior Center
1700 N. Granite Reef Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85257

Nearest intersection: McDowell & Hayden; nearest freeway ramp: 101N (east valley) McDowell exit.

ASES Annual Meeting Comes to Phoenix: May 17-22, 2010

The National Solar Conference is America’s leading conference on the emerging trends, technology, and opportunities shaping the new energy economy. Join us at SOLAR 2010 for the nation's best educational opportunity for solar energy professionals!. Visit www.ases.org for more information.

ASEA 2010-2011 Board Nomination Being Accepted

The Elections Committee would like to announce that they are now accepting nominations for the ASEA Board of Directors for 2010. Nominations will be accepted:

1) electronically, sent to the head of the elections committee Ferrell Anderson (Ferrell@fastq.com),

2) written and sent to ASEA (address below) and postmarked before January 23, 2010, or

3) from the floor at the annual membership meeting, January 23, 2010.

Nominations will be closed as of the end of the membership meeting. Descriptions of the positions on the ballot this year are below.

Please direct questions regarding the elections to Ferrell Anderson at (480) 580-4901.

ASEA mailing address:
ASEA
P.O. Box 5583
Scottsdale, AZ 85261

Board of Director Positions

Chair - 1 year term
Responsible for oversight of the organization, leading and implementing the decisions of the Board of Directors and representing ASEA at various functions and to ASEA's parent organization, ASES.

Vice-Chair - 1 year term
Responsible for assisting the chair in the execution of their responsibilites, oversight of ASEA newsletter and member communications and works with Treasurer and Secretary to maintain membership database.

Secretary - 1 year term
Responsible for keeping business and membership records for ASEA, executing communications for the Board and/or Chair, and works with the Treasurer and Vice-Chair to maintain membership database.

Treasurer - 1 year term
Responsible for maintaining the financial records and disbursments of the organization, and works with the Secretary and Vice-Chair to maintain membership database.

Northern Region Director
Central Region Director
Sourthern Region Director
2year term - 2 positions per region; 1 position per region open for nominations
Responsible as the primary and direct interface between statewide Board and the local chapters and members in their respective regions and provide representation to the Board regarding issues and interests of the members in their respective region.

Director-At-Large - 3 positions, 1 year term each
Responsible for representing the interests of members state-wide and assisting local chapters and the Region Directors with issues and activities in the different regions.

Arizona Solar Center Meet-Up Group
http://www.meetup.com/az-solar-center/

Solar Jobs

ASEA Solar Job Bank
http://www.arizonasolarenergy.org/jobs.html

SEIA Solar Job Website
http://www.jobtarget.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=4204

Solar News Updates

IRS Updates Solar Tax Credit Info
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=211307,00.html
http://seia.org/galleries/pdf/SEIATaxManual_v3-0_FAQ.pdf
http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US37F

SRP Reduces Solar Incentives
http://www.srpnet.com/environment/earthwise/solar/newstructure.aspx

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Fall 2009 Newsletter is here.

Updated: January 20, 2010