Utility-scale solar is booming, and residential solar is on the rise, but the small-commercial solar market is still largely unrealized, despite wide open potential for growth. In this presentation, learn how to grow your business by taking advantage of this untapped sector, which some are calling the next goldmine of the solar industry. We'll give you an overview of small commercial solar development, taking you through financing opportunities and challenges, diving into how to make small commercial solar more economical through project design and standardization, and giving you tips on how to eliminate hidden project costs and maximize your sales and installation efficiency and capability.

1. Small Commercial Solar:
Growing Your Business With This
Untapped Sector
Presented by AllEarth Renewables

2. Overview
Utility-scale solar is booming, and residential
solar is on the rise, but the small-commercial
solar market is still largely unrealized, despite
wide open potential for growth. In this
presentation, learn how to grow your business
by taking advantage of this untapped sector,
which some are calling the next goldmine of the
solar industry.

3. Presenters
• Chris Fraga, Founder & CEO, SolarSense
• Josh Baston, Project Supervisor,
Revision Energy
• Doug MacDonald, Project Engineer,
AllEarth Renewables

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5. Financing C&I Solar Projects
Chris Fraga
SolarSense

6. The Good News:
• C&I is projected to be the “hot” growth
market sector
• Rich / large scale marketspace
The Bad News:
• C&I has attracted hundreds of competitive
firms
• The basics matter more than ever

7. • Would I invest $500,000 - $2,000,000 of my
(own, family’s) personal retirement savings in
this project?
• If so: High probability of financing success
• If not: Fix the issues, or, be prepared for no

8. The Basics Matter
1. Be clear & realistic with the type of financing you seek
2. Overall quality/design of the Project: Solar PV products,
services & site viability
3. Strength & viability of the:
• Host customer off-taker:
likelihood of operations
for 25 yrs?
• Developer / EPC
• State’s incentive structure
4. The project financial proforma model

9. Capital / Structure You Seek? Uses of Capital / Details
Development financing • Pre-NTP activities & costs
• Development team expenses
• Site designs
• Permitting
• Interconnection submittal process
Construction financing • Product procurement & carrying costs
• Site preparation
• Physical construction
• Formal interconnection
Project Asset Sale / Purchase
Project Co. MIPA
• @ NTP?
• @ COD?
Debt • Term
• Rate
• Amortization
• Debt Service Coverage Ratio
Equity / Tax Equity • Structure of investment:
• Sale leaseback?
• Partnership Flip?
• Other

10. The Essential Financing Docs
1. The Project:
• Solar PV design / system output
summary
• Product selection, cut sheets &
warranties
• Timeline / realistic status & capital
timeline
2. Site control document (lease, license,
easement)
3. PPA with financeable terms
4. Host customer & Developer / EPC info:
• Narrative/summary of business
quals
• (3) three years financial statements
& CPA/Auditor prepared tax returns

11. Top PPA “Challenges”
1. “Floating” PPA rate
– % discount PPA rate vs. utility
pricing
2. No annual PPA rate increase
3. No early termination values,
particularly for on premise
systems
4. The contract risk is on the
investor / financier –
customer “cannot take any
risk”

12. Top Financing “Challenges”
1. Sub-par product selection to
make EPC costs work
2. Unrealistic developer / EPC
expectations on structure /
terms:
• % of debt
• Developer % carry in
deal
3. Inflated SREC values which are
not contracted
4. Unrealistic timing expectations
on financing close

13. Scale Residential Solar into
Small Commercial
Josh Baston
Revision Energy

14. For a smaller residential company, making the
leap into small commercial can sometimes be
intimidating.

15. Client Acquisition
• Long term relationship
building, the long view
• Identifying benefits
beyond just building the
solar array.
• Walk the walk with how
your company acts. At
ReVision we have
become a certified B-
Corp

16. Project Example: Maine Audubon
• Small commercial install
consisting of 6 trackers
• Difficult Permitting
• Key to have an ally
whom you can get
excited about the
project and help push
through roadblocks

17. Challenges
• Getting businesses to look past a 3-4 year ROI
• Lack of incentives puts more emphasis on
relationship building
• Getting businesses to see solar as part of
being a contributing member of the growing
sustainable community

18. Scalable Solar
• Moving into small
commercial can be a natural
growth opportunity for a
smaller company
• Install a scalable product:
something you are used to
installing but just installing
more of on a larger scale.
Stick with string inverters
and just do more of them.
• Easier to mobilize for small
commercial vs large
commercial/utility scale

19. Tips for Keeping Costs in Check
• For projects under 75kW or connecting to commercial
buildings, 240V or 208V services can save in equipment
costs. For larger projects 480/277V 3-phase services
make more economic sense.
• Preplan, have a project manager and electrician walk
through the project and order equipment prior to the
mobilization of the entire team, have a good list of
tasks to be done so that when roadblocks are
encountered installers can be re-deployed onto
something else and don’t get left standing around.

20. Why Choose AER
• Very scalable both in terms of planning for the current
install and for planning for future expansion
• The tracker is very terrain adaptable where you can
deal with rolling fields and ledge which may prove
challenging to traditional ground mounts.
• One pallet shipping makes it easy both to store and to
deploy on-site
• Trackers are both aesthetically pleasing and exciting
which make them a great sell to customers who are
tying to get marketing value in addition to electricity
production value.

21. Commercial Solar Project
Development
Doug MacDonald, AllEarth
Renewables

22. Small Commercial Projects can be Simple and
minimize the Balance of System costs.
• Up to 75kW single phase or up to 250kW three phase projects can easily
be designed using inexpensive 200A switching gear and 320A self
contained metering.
• Tracker farms in this scale, connect to (2) 200A combiner load centers,
then back feed a 320A meter socket. Pole mounted transformers add to
the simplicity and cost savings.
• Saves in development and construction costs.

23. Big benefits to using AllEarth Solar
Trackers for commercial projects
• Tracker Projects are
modular and easily scalable.
• Because the DC design is
pre cooked into the tracker,
designing a larger tracker
project is as easy as
designing a parking lot
lighting system.
• AC design can easily be
drawn up in one day by any
master electrician.
• Inverter AC capacity drives
the design.

24. • Larger projects = larger returns – utilize
economies of scale and efficient and
repeatable development and permitting
processes
• Standardizing and streamlining the EPC and
development process will further increase
returns.
• Document standardization critical both for
financeability and cost savings

25. Siting Considerations
• Minimize Shading
• Dig readiness (trees/brush)
• Tree and brush removal is costly and has more environmental impact.
• Chose open sites.
• Interconnect proximity
• When dealing with longer wire runs, 3phase is always better than single phase
from both utility and project perspectives
• Any project over 150kW, 3ph is required

26. Software we use at AER
• AutoCAD
• Used for Electrical drawings and Site layout drawings
• AutoCAD Maps vs AutoCAD LT – both work
• Google EARTH Pro - Now free to general public
• Great tool for initial site investigation - helpful for land area calculations
• KML files – polygons and poly lines of usable project areas.
• Good for identifying natural resources, wetlands, tree cover, historical imagery,
Interconnection location. Use street view to see poles, three phase vs single phase, etc.
• Solid Works
• Used for standardized equipment layouts, pedestals, conduit layouts
• Tools to identify and model shading:
• SunEye
• PV Watts, System Advisor, PV Syst
• Hey What’s That (heywhatsthat.com)

27. Efficient Installation
• Seek repeatable process
– Manage EPC process
– One contractor can do it all.
– Follow lean principles
Example: Helical Pile Base
Simply base installation
Install 20-30 bases per day per machine.

28. Cable In Conduit
– 3 or 4 insulated conductors pre installed inside of HDPE conduit.
– Handling and installation greatly simplified
– With few exceptions use same wire sizes for ALL installations
– Simple transition to above ground at both tracker and AC combiner
panel
– Reels come at 5000’ and fit on a standard spool trailer

29. Electrical One line Example,
500kW 3phase

30. Site Plan Example, 150kW
yman

31. State of Vermont – 500kW each
Project Note: A fixed rate PPA and bundled projects across nearly 20 state government
utility accounts will save taxpayers more than $2,500,000 over the initial term with no
cost and no financial risk. Utilizing virtual net metering policy for off-site project
siting.
State Government: Correctional
Facilities and State Offices
Size of Systems: 500kW
Desire for Solar: Guaranteed
budget savings / In line with state
energy goals
Project Structure: 20-Year PPA with
7-year buy-out option
How secured customer agreement:
RFP and guaranteed savings offered
(fixed rate PPA vs. floating /
indexed PPA)

32. 2.2MW, Claire Solar

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35. Questions?
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Email: info@allearthrenewables.com
Twitter: @allearthrenew