Solar Market

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Dolfan

Senior Member
Anybody out there in the solar panel market that is tied to government grants and if so is it worth it.
 

Cavie

Senior Member
Location
SW Florida
quote=satcom;1193437]Just what is the correct way?[/quote]

No backstabbing,floating bodies, greed and corruption:roll:
 

satcom

Senior Member
quote=satcom;1193437]Just what is the correct way?

No backstabbing,floating bodies, greed and corruption:roll:[/QUOTE]

Your watching too much TV !

Jersey is a great state, and most people are really very nice, but I can see why some companies and people leave with bitter feelings, the state is very anti business, and it hurts everyone, most of the companies moved south
 

revolt

Member
Are there any other states that promote energy innovation then signs into law that it all has to be prevailing wage? NJ did. Any rebates or credits for energy saving projects that come from the Board of Public Utilities has to be prevailing wage. In our area that equates to about $72 per hour plus labor burden (insurance,matching taxes etc.) This means private projects too. If a business wants to retrofit their lights or go solar it has to be prevailing wage. They went from the public sector to the private with a stroke of a pen.
This is the absurd theater of New Jersey politics and special interests. Our state motto should be "Give me your crooks and charlatans and huddled hoods yearning to bribe freely"
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Backstabbing,floating bodies, greed and corruption:roll:

That's the state motto.:D I went to an affair in Paterson on friday and I would swear that the entire cast of the Sopranos were there.
 

satcom

Senior Member
Are there any other states that promote energy innovation then signs into law that it all has to be prevailing wage? NJ did. Any rebates or credits for energy saving projects that come from the Board of Public Utilities has to be prevailing wage. In our area that equates to about $72 per hour plus labor burden (insurance,matching taxes etc.) This means private projects too. If a business wants to retrofit their lights or go solar it has to be prevailing wage. They went from the public sector to the private with a stroke of a pen.
This is the absurd theater of New Jersey politics and special interests. Our state motto should be "Give me your crooks and charlatans and huddled hoods yearning to bribe freely"

Public projects have always been prevailing wages, and New Jersey is not the only state, there were many posts about prevailing wage work, and they all see to get out of control or have plenty of mis information.
 

revolt

Member
A.4293/S.3028 New Jersey legislature bill. The A is for the Assembly bill and the S is for the Senate version.This is private business owners that this targeted to pay prevailing wage. Private money not public. If you own a business and want to do any energy upgrades WITH YOUR OWN MONEY the goal of this bill is, you as a private business owner have to pay prevailing wage for the upgrades or solar installation etc.. The rebates are through the BPU. The money is collected on everyone's utility bills. Again primarily private money collected from private business, not public.No misinterpretation.Read the bill that was signed by Governor Corzine.
 

Cavie

Senior Member
Location
SW Florida
No backstabbing,floating bodies, greed and corruption:roll:

Jersey is a great state, and most people are really very nice, but I can see why some companies and people leave with bitter feelings, the state is very anti business, and it hurts everyone, most of the companies moved south[/quote]

Left there when I was 4 years old.:D
 

revolt

Member
So that means that all solar modules installations installers in New Jersey are being paid at prevailing wage?
__________________
The Assembly and Senate passed bills that Corzine signed into law November of 09. It said any project over $12,000.00 excluding single family homes that got any rebate,assitance, credit etc. from the BPU was to be prevailing wage. An example would be lighting retrofits. If K-Mart wanted to install T-8s in a store and it cost more than 12K and they got a rebate from the BPU of $10 per fixture they have to pay prevailing wage. Same with the solar panels. The solar industry was fighting it and made some progress in getting it delayed. I haven't looked lately on their progress or were it stands. If it was not a single family home and the total cost was over 12K then the people installing the panels would have to be payed prevailing wage. This also applies to other energy upgrades. The BPU & Labor Dept. were going back & forth on who was going to enforce it.
 

revolt

Member
Putting Solar in the Shade

Trenton - Earlier this summer, Governor Corzine signed legislation (A3372/S2340) requiring prevailing wage for any programs that receive financial assistance from the Board of Public Utilities. Prevailing wage, the pay for government construction projects, can be double the average industry wage. The Sierra Club is concerned that this legislation will have a chilling effect on the growth of green jobs and clean energy projects in the state.


"We support having prevailing wage for governmental contracts, but we are concerned that the broad sweep of this law will undermine the intent of the BPU's Clean Energy Programs - protecting the environment and saving consumers money," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

The average solar installer earns $25-30 per hour; with prevailing wage it will be as high as $76 per hour with benefits. This is equivalent to a 150% pay increase. According to the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association (http://www.mseia.net), the increase in labor costs could raise the price of the average solar installation by 1/3. Any entity that receives funding or rebates from the NJ BPU Clean Energy Program and spends more than $12,000 dollars on an efficiency or clean energy project will be required to pay these increased wages. The increased cost may deter investments in renewable energy because of the higher cost and longer pay back period.


"This bill is like putting a giant umbrella over New Jersey, blocking out the sun and undermining clean energy," said Tittel.

The increase in labor costs would extend the pay-off time - the time in which the savings pay for the cost of the equipment - triggering poison pills in many energy programs. Under different rules in the Board of Public Utilities and Division of Community Affairs, the costs of clean energy and energy efficiency programs must be recouped in savings in less than seven years.

Prevailing wage will be required on every construction project on businesses that costs more than $12,000. Currently a beauty parlor may plan to invest $15,000 in energy efficiency to take advantage of a $2,500 dollar rebate from BPU, totaling their costs at $12,500. This legislation would raise the initial costs to $21,000 being cost prohibitive for small business owners. The federal statute exempts buildings less than 9,600 feet from prevailing wage. This type of exemption would allow smaller businesses access the long term benefits of renewable energy sources.

The legislation will stunt smaller construction projects and the growth of smaller solar companies. By raising the cost of installation smaller solar projects may become too expensive, and the need for smaller solar companies will be reduced. This will help give large utilities a monopoly on solar energy, because they already pay prevailing wage.

It also fails to recognize that the money distributed by the BPU for rebates is not government money; it is part of a private investment system called Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS). Utilities buy SRECS to meet their renewable portfolio standard. They can purchase them through the solar owner or provider. The program is overseen by the BPU, the board sets the price of SRECS, but all transaction and financing are private.

While this law exempts single family home owners, townhouses, and apartment complexes up to four stories, it fails to account for the complexities in financing. In many instances the SRECS are pursued by solar companies as part of the project's financing instead of the single family home owner, which would make them susceptible to the labor cost increases.

New job training initiatives around the state have focused on weatherization training programs for recent high school graduates or drop outs. Labor Union 55 in Newark employs local people, and does not require a high school diploma. They pay 17 dollars an hour; while good pay this is well under the prevailing wage. Requiring prevailing wage would undermine the viability of the program. Isles, Inc. in Trenton has a similar program.

Many unions that supported this legislation have not supported global warming or green jobs policies; some have been major supporters of off shore oil drilling. These unions have not been concerned with climate legislation, and their negotiations will undermine the long term viability of clean energy jobs in New Jersey.
 

revolt

Member
mtnelectrical, more info regarding solar in NJ.The article below was published in the Construction Code Communicator recently. If you see a solar,roofing etc. company installing PV panels and the company does not have an electrical contractors license and business permit then you can call the Board or sub code official and turn them in. The PV panels and associated wiring has to installed by an company with an electrical contractors license.

Solar Photovoltaic
Installations: The Board
of Examiners of Electrical
Contractors Explains
It seems there is considerable confusion about
whether an electrical contractor's license is required
for solar-photovoltaic (SPV) installations.
Substantially, the question is: are SPV installations,
including the SPV panels themselves, electrical work
within the meaning of the regulations, so as to require
an applicant for a construction permit to obtain an
electrical contractor's license to perform such work?
The short answer is yes; except that owners of singlefamily
homes doing work on their own dwellings are
exempt.
N.J.S.A. 45:5A-1 et seq., known as "The Electrical
Contractors Licensing Act of 1962" (the Act),
establishes generally that no person shall advertise,
enter into, engage in, or work in a business as an
electrical contractor unless they have secured a
business permit and a license from the New Jersey
Board of Electrical Contractors (the Board).
The term "electrical contractor" is defined as a person
who engages in the business of contracting to install,
erect, repair, or alter electrical equipment for the
generation, transmission, or utilization of electrical
energy (N.J.S.A. 45:5A-2(d)). Accordingly, any person
who engages in these activities is an electrical
contractor by definition and is required to obtain a
business permit and license from the Board.
SPV systems are, by definition, electrical work. They
are a series of components that generate (the SPV
panels), transmit, and/or utilize electrical energy. Any
person engaged in installing, erecting, repairing, etc.
such equipment must be an electrical contractor under
the provisions of the Act.
The Act further sets forth a limited listing of exempt
electrical work or construction that is not included in
the business of electrical contracting so as to require a
license and business permit under the Act (N.J.S.A.
45:5A-18). Neither SPV systems nor SPV panels are
listed therein and thus are not exempt, per se.
Recently the Board considered this issue and
concluded that SPV systems, including the SPV
panels themselves, to the extent that they are used for
the generation, transmission, or utilization of electrical
energy, constitute electrical work within the meaning of
the Act. Therefore, unless work was exempted by
statute (e.g. operates at less than 10 volts, etc.), a
contractor is required to obtain a license and business
permit issued by the Board to install, erect, and repair,
etc., SPV systems including SPV panels themselves.
Consequently, pursuant to the UCC, code officials
should require permit applications for SPV systems,
including SPV panels themselves, to be signed and
sealed by electrical contractors holding a valid
business permit issued by the Board.
Questions as to whether a licensed electrical
contractor is required may be directed to either Marian
or Kathleen of the Board of Examiners of Electrical
Contractors at (973) 504-6410.
Source: Joseph P. Schooley, Chairman.
Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
No backstabbing,floating bodies, greed and corruption:roll:

Your watching too much TV !

Jersey is a great state, and most people are really very nice, but I can see why some companies and people leave with bitter feelings, the state is very anti business, and it hurts everyone, most of the companies moved south[/QUOTE]
I worked with a guy from NJ that was 1 of the best guys I knew. He stood out, as most of the guys there from out of state always bragged about what big men they were "back home". Their work told a different story. But if this guy told you something, his work backed him up. He'd left there to escape high taxes, cost of business, etc. Good manager, careful of material, excellent work.
 
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