... If Altus builds a solar system for $1 million, it receives a 30 percent federal investment tax credit, ... Combine that with the payments for the power the system produces—about $70,000 a year—and Altus can offer pretty consistent quarterly returns to investors over a long period of time. ... financial engineering has turned solar into a rather conservative, low-risk investment. ... Like other asset managers, Altus takes a management fee and a percentage of the profits above a certain amount. And it generates returns that are both reliable—building owners tend to pay their electricity bills in good times and bad—and not necessarily correlated to the broader stock market. “Solar is ridiculously stable,” Norell says. What about the 30% federal tax credit? Its probably one of the smartest things done to boost the economy in the 2009 stimulus bill. (Although using stimulus money to fund R&D was probably smarter yet). Every doubling of solar production drops the cost by about 20% (Swansons law), and in California, the cost of installed PV fell 50% in 4 years. At that rate, in another 2 years the cost of installed PV without the tax credit will be about the same as today with the tax credit.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 00:56:32 +0000
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