Gloom? Not for a Hartford Solar Company

By John P. Gregg, February 28, 2009
Valley News Staff Writer

White River Junction -- U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., yesterday visited a once-forlorn warehouse that now houses fast-growing groSolar to tout a measure in the massive new stimulus law advocates say will boost the solar energy industry.

At the request of groSolar executives, Welch helped insert a measure in the law that provides up to a 30 percent rebate for the cost of solar projects that are completed in 2009 or 2010, or begin construction by the end of 2010 and are operating by 2017.

It replaces a somewhat similar investment tax credit that was to expire, but groSolar officials said a key difference is that the earlier provision required that solar installation projects be completed by a date certain, rather than simply under way.

GroSolar Chief Operating Officer Jim Merriam said the effect of the federal incentive and rebate is the entire solar industry can plan for a longer range of activity and improve cash flow for developers.

“We don't have to run to this deadline to get everything installed. And investors are gong to be able to look at the industry and say OK, we can invest, we can see a longer range here, we can put more solar out there, we're going to create jobs,” Merriam said. “It really provides a lot of stability for us.”

Dori Wolfe, president and co-founder of groSolar -- her husband Jeff is in California for six months helping oversee a transition with a company the firm just purchased there -- said the company is growing and will be helped by the stimulus measure.

“This stimulus bill that just passed is the jumpstart to a lot of hard work that has yet to come,” she said.

Welch, who practiced law in White River Junction for almost 30 years and used to take noontime runs along the White River, recounted how he was amazed at the transformation of the former P&C warehouse on Old River Road, now home to a trucking company and 60 employees at groSolar's headquarters.

Welch visited groSolar five years ago when it had just 10 workers; it now has more than 185 employees in 12 states and Canada, and is the fourth largest installer of residential solar systems in the United States.

“I'm just doing my job. What you are doing is building a future,” Welch said to many of the groSolar employees gathered in the warehouse for a press conference highlighting green energy incentives in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes about $70 billion for infrastructure projects or tax credits in the “green energy” energy field.

“Obviously, when you are in this transition from a fossil-fuel based economy to renewable energy to efficiency, and it requires investing, that's the time when tax credits do make a lot of sense,” added Welch, a vice chairman of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus. “Because we do need to give that incentive and that boost for that industry to get that step ahead.”

Andrew Perchlik, executive director of the trade group Renewable Energy Vermont, said the state was home to a renewable energy industry that is adding jobs. “This is where jobs are happening … This is going to happen across the country because of this Recovery Act,” Perchlik said. “Vermont will be like an incubator to other states.”

President Obama, in his address to Congress on Tuesday, also highlighted the importance of renewable energy. “We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century … We invented solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it,” he said.

Another part of the Recovery Act benefiting the solar energy industry provides a 30 percent investment tax credit for homeowners who install a qualified solar hot water system that doesn't involve swimming pools or hot tubs. The measure previously was capped at $2,000.

Officials at groSolar said a house that is home to a family of four could be outfitted with a solar hot water system for about $9,000, provided the structure has enough sunlight. The company also installs solar electricity and commercial systems around the country.

Perchlik and Welch both said that renewable energy systems also help ease U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

“It keeps money in the state. What we are seeing in this economy is the best defense against globalization is localization,” Welch said. “The more we can build an economy locally, the more insulation we have from the wild swings that happen beyond your borders and beyond our control.”

Following a tour of groSolar's headquarters -- which Welch jokingly called “high-pressure sales tactics” -- he said he might, in fact, be interested in a solar system for his Hartland home, which has a south-facing roof.

Though solar systems can pay for themselves over the years through energy savings, it is not necessarily a short payback period, and Welch said the rebate can help make such systems more affordable for homeowners while also driving down the per-unit cost as more of them are produced.

“Here's the thing: I want the best deal. Price matters,” Welch said. “I'm not doing this to be politically correct. I want to save money.”