on nov. 23, we interviewed neera tanden, president and ceo of the center for american progress action fund, to discuss the importance of making climate change a front-and-center issue for the 2020 race. the event was hosted at the george washington university school of media and public affairs where students, academics, policymakers, journalists, and more gathered to learn about recent trends in voter behavior across the nation, how young voters could influence the 2020 election, and why voter turnout during this coming year will be so pivotal to address the climate crisis.

check out our conversation with tanden, below, and learn how the center for american progress is helping to persuade voters on the urgency of climate change.

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more information: see a slideshow from our event.

these rain water systems could even be used for emerging markets even as drinking water. rain water is easily purified, if necessary, using reverse osmosis or simple solar distillation.

i am working with the premier air to water manufacturer to produce the first commercially viable solar-powered machine to simply pull the water directly from thin air. this concept uses the same technology that your a/c systems use to remove heat from air. the byproduct of this process (removing heat from air) is water–why not put this yield to use in areas where water is difficult to come by?

photo credit to izik.

these foreclosed properties that are not only a blight on the communities they are in but a consistant reminder of the economic times we live in. by renovating them and reducing their carbon footprint; we are vertually killing to birds with same stone…providing a renovated home that is helping the locale community turn around while costing less to live in 50 to 75% depending on personal conservation efforts of dwellwers.

by investing in real estate this initiative will always hold more value on paper than any other value added corporation from start-up. this being said we will always own properties worth as much as 50% of the actual appraised value. this will assure that we are in better cash position in case of more downturn in reit’s.
something stockholders as well as board members will appreciate.

paramount in our bi-laws set forth, most important is: “of all monies raised only 10% will ever be used for administrative fees”.

we are on a campaign to raise $1.5 million to be able to donate 50 of rapidmodular.com’s low-cost, solar-powered micro housing kits to give to those who lost everything and have no insurance to rebuild.

we will not wait on fema to do it all.

first of all–it is not a well know fact–that it is not all fema’s responsibility to rebuild entire towns and cities. these are not man made events, like oil explosions or spills in the water.
so fema’s role is different in that it does not have some big corporation to dole out the lion’s share of the costs.
we the tax payers are sharing the burden.

the government agency is only supposed to help with the disaster relief effort. but over the years no matter what name the government gives the group that helps during tragedy, it is
not enough. too big, too many disasters and in a time of cuts,
well you understand. too bureaucratic.

we as a society and a people must rise up and help our fellow countrymen…

we would welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver you the fastest and best service in the industry.
the panels to build the structures is scalable to any need… schools, hospitals, apartments, commercial and industrial applications abound.

www.rapidmodular.com
www.ephot.info

municipal property tax assessment financing
removing key barriers to residential solar
jd polk
february 2009

abstract: this paper outlines a new residential solar financing option, and provides a policy primer on how to replicate the model in cities and towns across america. the financing mechanism, known as the berkeley financing initiative for renewable and solar technology(first) model, allows property owners to roll the price of a residential solar installation into a 20-year increased property tax assessment. in this model a city or county authorizes municipal bonds to cover the capital costs of the renewable energy projects.

the first model represents a breakthrough in residential solar deployment by removing a key barrier to solar adoption: high upfront capital costs. this voluntary, opt-in property tax assessment model has the potential to dramatically increase the penetration of residential solar systems, helping municipalities achieve renewable energy generation and climate change goals. in this paper the benefits and challenges of the model, both to property owners and to municipalities, are explained. the paper concludes with a policy discussion of the steps needed to implement this financing tool in other jurisdictions.

introduction
innovations in the financing of solar systems are as important to market adoption of solar
installations as innovations in solar technology. in this paper we explore a new financing
method currently being deployed in berkeley, california that will allow consumers to purchase solar for their homes and businesses with very little, if any, up-front capital cost. the financing initiative for renewable and solar technology (first) model has the potential to spur widespread adoption of small-scale solar systems (as well as energy efficiency retrofits) in u.s. homes and small businesses. the purpose of this paper is to describe this new finance tool, noting its benefits and potential pitfalls, and to provide policy makers with a primer for implementing this option in additional communities across america.

the berkeley first model
in 2007, residential solar energy systems in berkeley, california were selling for roughly
$12,000 – $40,000 for a 2 -5kw system, and throughout the city approximately 400 solar
photovoltaic (pv) systems, averaging 2.6 kw, had been installed on homes. adoption of solar was progressing, but not at a pace fast enough to help berkeley meet its voter-adopted climate change goal. city officials, led by cisco devries, the then-chief of staff to mayor tom bates, decided that the local government should intervene to speed up the shift to renewable sources of energy. what emerged was the berkeley first program.

“we needed to find a way to help people finance solar and energy efficiency programs in a way that eliminated the high upfront cost,” said devries. 2 the first program is a property-tax assessment program that allows property owners – both residential and commercial- to pay for the installation of solar systems (electric or thermal) and energy efficiency improvements to their buildings through their property tax bills, spanning a twenty-year duration. under the program, individuals wishing to install solar will still contract directly with qualified private solar installers. rather than paying the up-front cost of the solar system, the customer will instead opt-in to the city’s first financing program and pay a bi-annual assessment bundled into their local property taxes that covers the project’s costs, including fixed interest rates and administrative fees. berkeley’s analysis shows that for many residents, the yearly assessment will be less or equal to the electricity savings throughout the year.

the city of berkeley will be able to provide the upfront funds for the solar and energy efficiency projects by issuing taxable municipal bonds, which will be reimbursed as participating property owners, pay their tax bills for the subsequent 20 years. the basic principal of the program is that solar should be financed like most capital-intensive purchases these days – a new car, a major
home repair – through long-term payment plans that alleviate much, if not all, of the up-front capital expense.