Georgia has been one of the fastest growing solar markets in the country.

The Solar Power Free-Market Financing Act of 2015, also known as House Bill 57, was signed and passed on May 12, 2015. This Act enables solar energy procurement agreements (SEPAs) which lessen the impact of solar panel costs for businesses across Georgia.  The bill allows businesses to finance the cost of construction of solar panels while paying back the investment over time through their energy savings from using solar.  Contact Eagle Solar and Light to see how SEPAs can lower your utility costs.

Eagle Solar & Light is the first company approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission to offer leasing and remains the only company to have active leases across Duke Energy territory with commercial and nonprofit entities. Leasing your solar array is a very simple process. With a lease term that can range from 5-25 years, and little money upfront, the system is installed by Eagle Solar & Light and maintained during the lease term.  With an energy production guarantee, and a fair market value buy-out option at the end of the contract, it’s a win-win for those consumers looking for a clean energy solution.  Given that this is an operational lease there is no requirement to purchase the system at the end of the term.  This equipment, over the life of the lease and the equipment will deliver a quantifiable amount of clean kilowatt hours thereby reducing the amount of energy purchased from the utility. Therefore, the system saves money over the long-term and reduces the consumer’s carbon footprint.  Because ESL will own the system, it monetizes the available tax benefits and indirectly shares some of these benefits back in the form of a lower lease payment.  The benefit of the lease is that allows the consumer to have a positive cash flow much more quickly than a cash purchase; in other words, the utility savings the system generates exceeds the cost of the lease.  While every situation is unique, we have seen many of our customers go cash flow positive in Year 1.

North Carolina offers an added solar incentive for residential, commercial and non-profit customers through the NC Solar Rebate program, but demand for those rebates in the commercial sector is exceedingly high*. Rebates aside, the leasing option gives consumers another financially attractive avenue to afford solar. If consumers do receive a rebate, the combination of the rebate with a lease can make solar even more affordable, as use of this combination by our nonprofit clients has shown.

* These rebates are exhausted within hours of each year’s rebate allotment becoming available. Note that the demand for rebates in the nonprofit sector is growing, but the non-profit rebates have not been fully utilized.