For municipalities and local authorities, solar energy can be a great way to reduce operating costs and demonstrate your commitment to a clean and prosperous future for your constituents. BAI Renewables specializes in developing creative solar projects for local governments. We will guide you through the whole process, from completing a free solar feasibility report to helping you fund your solar panel installation.
Benefits of Solar For Local Governments
- Save money by reducing facility and utility operating costs
- Control future utility costs
- Reduce your carbon footprint
- Repurpose taxpayer dollars
- Inspire growth and attract new opportunities
The BAI Approach
- Solar Feasibility Study – Our approach starts with an analysis of needs and electric bill data to make sure that a solar project will benefit your constituents. During this stage we also talk to you about where you might want to locate your solar panels. We’ll review one or more potential sites to determine which is best suited for solar. Depending on how much electricity you use, we can even help to locate panels offsite should a suitable property be unavailable.
- Proposal Development – Once we understand how solar can benefit you, we develop a comprehensive proposal for you and your leadership to review. During our study, we’ll identify which funding method will save you the most money. Many municipalities and authorities qualify for our zero-upfront-cost solar project. See the Financing Approach section for more details.
- Letter of Intent – If our proposal addresses your needs, we’ll provide you with a letter of intent (LOI) that allows us to perform an in-depth due diligence.
- Negotiations and Due Diligence – Our team will work with you to fine tune the solar project for maximum benefit. BAI will assess your specific situation to confirm the assumptions we used as the basis for the LOI.
- Agreement Execution – We celebrate your decision to go solar by signing a contract or agreement.
- Solar Project Construction – Our solar installation team installs the solar panels.
- Commissioning and Operation – After installation, the solar panels undergo comprehensive testing. When all systems perform at or above expectation, we turn on the solar array.
Financing Your Solar Project
There are two ways in which we can help local governments fund their solar projects:
Option 1: Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) – The most common way local governments fund their solar projects is through a PPA. The PPA approach requires no money out of pocket from you. Using our own resources, we will build, own, and operate the solar project and sell you the power at a significant discount to what you currently pay. This is commonly referred to as a third-party ownership structure. This approach allows you to save money while continuing to invest in your community and facilities.
Option 2: Solar Savings Program (SSP) – The SSP program is a third-party ownership approach that works best for municipalities and authorities that want to own their solar panels. Since local governments are tax exempt, they can’t use the significant tax credits that come with a solar project. The SSP provides a way to monetize the tax incentives by allowing us, or our partners, to use the tax credits in the project in exchange for a lower construction cost. We typically see savings of 20 percent or more on the construction costs using the SSP.