SMUD - PV Pioneer II Loan

Summary

The PV Pioneer II budgetary limit for 2003 has been reached. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) will not accept new applications until 2004. The PV Pioneers II program, managed by SMUD, began in the summer of 1997. At that time, the Board of Directors at SMUD approved a $9.4 million contract for at least 2.5 megawatts of building-integrated photovoltaics to be installed by the end of 2002. The PV Pioneers II program officially replaced the PV Pioneers I program in 1999. The PV Pioneers II program allows customers to purchase installed roof-mounted PV systems from the utility for (approximately) less than $7,000. The system costs approximately $7 per watt and the customer is responsible for financing $3.50 per watt (which covers the cost of construction). Therefore, SMUD buys down about half the cost of the system and then provides a financed loan to cover the balance. The loan is repaid over a period of ten years at a financing rate of 9.25%. Both traditional PV modules and building-integrated PV "roof shingles" are available under the program. Customers receive net metering, so that when the PV system produces more energy than the customer’s load, the electric meter turns backwards.