I should have noted that the 15% "installers penalty" as I call it, is still in place for solar, but we argued against it for wind electric systems. It was never a question of a "legitimate" contractor vs. a "black market contractor". The perspective is that our time, experience and knowledge as contractors have a value to them, just like anyone else's.
During the process we also convinced the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to switch from a wind turbine rebate that was based on an installed cost (funny how all of those applications managed to be submitted so that the maximum amount was received, regardless of the turbine size, tower height, footing requirements, etc.) to an estimated performance based rebate program (estimated kWh's of production), which seeks to fairly compensate those installations that will perform and allows self selection to weed out those that are not worth proceeding ahead with. We have regulations in place for renewable energy system installations that require all the usual zoning and building permits and inspections, as well as final NJ BPU inspection, electrical and construction permit final inspections and utility interconnect final inspection before any money is paid to the applicant. (CA probably has many more off grid (and perhaps uninspected) battery based systems than we do. I am not aware of any off grid wind turbine installations in NJ and to my knowledge there are only two off grid solar installs out of over 4000). All RE systems in NJ that receive grant money are required to have a 5 year warranty on everything, including installation, which falls onto the installer's shoulders as well. In order to pull an electrical permit here you must be a licensed electrician. Although a handy homeowner may be able to install racking and/or panels, they cannot do the electrical wiring and connections, especially to the grid. Any licensed electrician that connects a homeowner system would be deemed a responsible party in the installation. With building code enforcement inspections, NJ BPU inspections and utility company inspections, it would be very hard, if not impossible, to get away with anything less than an acceptable installation to all three overseeing agencies. What we have found from our history is that this works well and the ability to abuse the system has been reduced significantly since the NJ program was initiated. Roger Dixon Certified Wind Site Assessor Distributor & Installer of Solar & Wind Energy Systems Skylands Renewable Energy, LLC 908.337.2057 cell 908.730.6474 fax roger.di...@skylandsre.com www.skylandsre.com SkylandsRenewD66bR03dP01ZL Note: The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). It is the property of the sender of this e-mail. If you receive this e-mail in error, do not review, disseminate, or copy it. Unauthorized use, disclosure, or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Bill Brooks Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 11:57 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Installer's grant Roger, Why would a legitimate contractor argue against this reduced incentive (it is not a penalty at all)? This is simply acknowledging the fact that operating a business and providing a long-term system warranty costs money that a self-installer does not have to carry. This actually came from a strong recommendation I made to the California Energy Commission since early in the rebate program over 30% of installations were "self-installed" which was a bunch of BS. These were black market contractors who did not want to carry a system warranty or did not have the credentials to install the system. Once we installed the slightly lower rebate cleaned up most of the black market contracting and the number of self-installed systems went to the real number of less than 5%. Arguing against the lower rebate was a mistake that you are going to regret. It's helpful to learn from history before repeating it. Bill. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of roger dixon Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 1:33 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Installer's grant Try the DSIRE website, http://www.dsireusa.org/. It lists both state and federal incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Up until this year, NJ would penalize a "self install", reducing the rebate amount by 15%. We argued against that and they have now removed that penalty. Roger Dixon Certified Wind Site Assessor Distributor & Installer of Solar & Wind Energy Systems Skylands Renewable Energy, LLC 908.337.2057 cell 908.730.6474 fax roger.di...@skylandsre.com www.skylandsre.com SkylandsRenewD66bR03dP01ZL Note: The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). It is the property of the sender of this e-mail. If you receive this e-mail in error, do not review, disseminate, or copy it. Unauthorized use, disclosure, or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Drake Chamberlin Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 10:50 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] Installer's grant Hello Wrenches, I wanted to see how other states are handling solar grants / rebates on the homes of installers. In Ohio there is a grant program that gives $3.00 / Watt toward residential systems. Eligible installers must be approved by the state, and funds are allotted to the installer. In this years program, there is a "conflict of interest" clause which says that installers, employees of installers and subcontractors of installers are not eligible for any grant funding from the grant received by the installer. It is likely that installers can hire their competition to do installations. Do other states have this conflict of interest clause? Thanks, Drake Chamberlin Athens Electric OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP TM Certified PV Installer Office - 740-448-7328 Mobile - 740-856-9648
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