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10 <br /> <br />there were not a lot of numbers and the Board does not know what their long term costs are. 1 <br />He said he would have liked to have seen the costs of leasing versus ownership. 2 <br />Travis Myren said the grant would allow the districts to do whatever they think is in their 3 <br />best interest. 4 <br />Commissioner McKee said it would have been more helpful to have had the long term 5 <br />costs, and would have been interesting to see these numbers. 6 <br />Commissioner McKee asked if anyone contacted local solar providers about how much 7 <br />the systems would cost. Commissioner McKee asked if staff knows the efficiency downgrades 8 <br />on these systems. 9 <br />Travis Myren said staff has these calculations, and he can get them to the Board. 10 <br />Commissioner McKee said there is no need at this point, but it would have been helpful 11 <br />to have numbers that are verifiable. 12 <br />Commissioner McKee referred to page 13, and read: 13 <br /> 14 <br />Solar panels have a 25-year life expectancy, and the leasing company often only 15 <br />owns the panels for the first 5-10 years. The schools have the option to write into the 16 <br />lease agreement that the solar company will manage any repairs and maintenance 17 <br />either during the time the system is owned by the solar company or for the entire life 18 <br />of the panels. After an agreed-upon period of time, the lease agreement should allow 19 <br />the Schools to make one of the following choices: 20 <br />1.) Purchase the panels at a much reduced cost; 21 <br />2.) Renegotiate a new lease agreement; 22 <br />3.) Ask the solar company to remove the panels at no cost. 23 <br /> 24 <br />Commissioner McKee asked if these solar companies are willing to write in any of these 25 <br />points into a lease agreement. 26 <br />Travis Myren said he can find out this information. 27 <br />Commissioner McKee said it would have been nice for both the Board and the schools 28 <br />to know the situation that would be facing them after 5-10 years. 29 <br />Travis Myren said determining what to do with the panels at the end of a lease, or their 30 <br />usefulness, will be at the discretion of the school districts. 31 <br />Commissioner McKee referred to page 11, item 2, and read the following excerpt. 32 <br /> 33 <br />2. Are there Duke Energy Solar Incentives that apply to this project? 34 <br />Duke Energy will provide up to $75K in incentives for public entities to install solar 35 <br />energy systems >100kW. Assuming these potential projects offset a school’s total 36 <br />energy demand, these projects are likely to eligible for that level of incentives (see 37 <br />this fact sheet for more info). 38 <br /> 39 <br />That incentive is locked in after the design phase once Duke approves an 40 <br />interconnection agreement, so projects could be designed with a budget of 41 <br />$225,000. Some project money would be spent on design before the incentive was 42 <br />guaranteed, but there could be a clause that would allow the remainder of project 43 <br />funds to be contingent on Duke solar incentive approval. 44 <br /> 45 <br />Commissioner McKee said this wording leads him to wonder why one would design a 46 <br />project before having a commitment from Duke. 47 <br />Travis Myren said Duke will not approve an incentive unless they know certain criteria 48 <br />about the project. He said there would be some engineering to do before one can apply for the 49 <br />Duke incentive. 50