1. NYC Solar Summit
June 4, 2013
David Gilford, Assistant Director
Breaking Solar Barriers in NYC:
From Finance to Hot Water

2. 2
 Why solar matters to NYC
 Financing remains a key barrier
 Solar thermal in NYC: opportunities and challenges
Credit: NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability
Breaking Solar Barriers in NYC
From Finance to Hot Water

3. 3
 Clean, distributed energy
– Helps reach NYC’s 2030 goal of
800MW of new clean DG
– Can target particular areas and
neighborhoods (e.g., Solar
Empowerment Zones)
 Economic development
– ~$116M economic impact,
growing at ~80% per year
– Not just panels: labor costs can
be ~50% of the total
 Looking ahead, other benefits
– Resiliency and disaster recovery
– Software and data innovation
Why solar matters to NYC
Benefits go far beyond sustainability

4. 4
Despite progress in many areas, financing remains a key barrier
Upfront costs are a major impediment to solar market growth
 Capital expense vs. operating expense
– Building owners face high upfront
costs for a long-term return
 For SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge,
Mayor’s Office and EDC co-chairing
Financing Options working group
“Generating reliable and affordable solar energy is both a public
good and a national goal.
A necessary component to achieve this vision is the availability of
scalable, low-cost financing.”
(US Department of Energy, SunShot Grand Challenge)

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5
A multitude of mechanisms help finance solar PV nationally
Type Offered by
Loans and
credit
enhance-
ment
Crowd-
funding
Issue addressed Description
 Individual projects gather equity from
cooperative investors for small shares of
ownership
 Investors receive low-yield and do not off-
take energy
 Various programs offer low cost debt
financing with long term payback periods
for certain PV projects
4
2
Community
Solar
1
 Access to low cost equity
financing
 Decoupling of system
location, ownership and
power off-taking
 Lower installed cost through
aggregation/economies of
scale
 Utility or Special Purpose Entity offers a
program to retail customers to own or
purchase energy/RECs from a locally
sited PV system for a premium
 This program allows customers who
would otherwise be unable a way to
“power” their homes with PV
 Solar Mosaic
 Abundance
Generation
 SunFunder
 Kickstarter
 Kiva
 Sacramento
 United Power
(CO)
 University Park
(MD)
 Clean Energy
Collective (CO)
 Solar for Sakai
 Municipal
Credit Unions
 Public
institutions
Sources: 1. BNEF, Extraordinary popular solutions: funding from the crowds, 06/15/12
2. NREL, A Guide to Community Solar: Utility, Private, and Non-profit Project Development, 11/2012
On-bill
financing
 Several utilities nationwide administer
low-interest loans which are repaid
through utility bills
3
 Access to low cost debt
financing
 System ownership tied to
utility account
 Public
institutions
 Utilities
 Access to low cost debt
financing
PPA’s and
Solar Leasing
 Third party companies offer the electricity
produced or leasing of the PV system
5  High up-front capital cost
 Maintenance and service
 Various
DirectOwnership3rdPartyOwnership

6. 6
Financing solar in NYC has unique challenges
Stakeholder interviews identified NYC-specific paths forward
 Nature of NYC projects often makes them more difficult to finance
– Many small-to-medium-sized, unique projects
– Multiple tenants or owners (e.g., condos) adds complexity, as power
off-taker is often not the owner
 To help solve these challenges, existing financing options include:
– Reducing customer acquisition costs, by aggregating purchasing (e.g.,
“Solarize”)
– Bundling projects together, or targeting multi-building projects for
economies of scale and consistency
 Emerging options include crowdfunding and community solar
– Allows renters and others to make small investments can expand the
pool of capital and reduce financing costs
 Next phase of SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge will identify opportunities
to pilot new mechanisms to address these barriers

7. 7
One of the most promising
renewable energy
technologies:
 High energy production, low
capital costs relative to PV
 Mature, efficient technology
 Shorter payback period than
solar PV, excluding incentives
NYC is the most favorable
market in the state for solar
thermal:
 High solar radiation
 High energy savings potential:
DHW accounts for 19% of
energy consumption
 Potential to provide up to 75%
of hot water needs for an
average family
A great opportunity… …still poised for takeoff…
New York has trailed
domestic and global markets
for solar thermal:
 Installed capacity per capita in
the United States is 24Wth
while in New York State it is
only 0.3Wth
 NYS has 6% of the US
population but only 0.008% of
the solar thermal installed
capacity
Although arguably more
promising, solar thermal
significantly lags PV growth:
 ~50 systems commissioned in
NYC vs. 687 PV systems
…if barriers are addressed.
Obstacles to growth include:
 Financial
− High upfront capital costs
− Lack of financing
− Limited incentives
 Technical
− Insufficient performance
data
− Limited awareness of
technology and potential
− Lack of certified
professionals
 Regulatory
− Complex regulation and
high transaction costs
The “Other” Solar: Solar Thermal
Despite a strong opportunity, solar hot water has lagged PV locally

8. 8
NYCEDC Solar Thermal Pilot set out to identify market potential
Grants led to white paper on opportunities and challenges
 Announced in 2009, grant program
offered incentives (up to $50K per
system) to commercial and multi-
family residential installations
 Installations took place from 2010-
2012, with performance data
collected from diverse projects
 White paper released June 2013,
available for download at
www.nycedc.com/cleantech

9. 9
Key findings show opportunities to scale deployment
 Pilot suggests strong viability for
scaling solar thermal citywide,
identifying 4,565 highest-potential
buildings
– Over 20 years, these could yield
$200M in energy savings;
– Create 1,200 new jobs; and
– Reduce emissions by 6 billion
pounds
 Key takeaways from pilot include:
– Hot water load matters
– Siting and orientation are critical
– Incentives are important
– Data increases transparency and
drives deployment

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Thank you
David Gilford
Assistant Director, NYCEDC
www.nycedc.com/cleantech
Twitter: @dgilford and @nycedc