Why the Best Solar Thermal System Money Can Buy is NOT Expensive!

Mirasol Solar Thermal Systems with Evacuated Tube Collectors are guaranteed to:

1. Meet and exceed winter home heating capabilities of standard flat-plate collectors.

2. Work more efficiently than flat-plate collectors in cold weather when you need heat the most.

3. Provide the high hot water temperatures required for forced air or baseboard heating that cannot be done by flat-plate collectors.

4. Generate as much energy with one Evacuated Tube Collector as two flat-plate collectors.

5. Use standard, non-proprietary parts that can be purchased from any plumbing supply retailer at any time if a repair is ever needed. Expensive special solar parts are not needed.

6. Use parts that are MADE IN AMERICA at all times possible to strengthen the economy of our country!

7. Be custom designed to fit the system to your specific needs, using as much of your existing equipment to save you from unnecessary costs.

Good News for Businesses--The Stimulus and Solar

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009 made a major improvement in the solar tax credit program for commercial installations. The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) of 30% of the total cost of the installation of a solar system remains unchanged for the next seven years. But now, a business owner can elect to receive a cash payment from the Department of Treasury in lieu of the ITC. A quick refund of 30% makes a lot of sense for business taxpayers who may happen to be carrying losses in these tough economic times, or for other reasons, would prefer to receive a cash payment rather than a reduction in taxes. This cash grant arrives from the Treasury 60 days after your system is placed in service. Information on the Treasury Department payment is available at the DOT's recovery website.

Of course, if you are able to take advantage of the ITC itself, the possibility exists that you can monetize the incentive even sooner, by withholding the full amount of your ITC from your next quarterly income tax prepayment.

Clark Howard, Money Guru on CNN, HLN Got Scammed on Solar

On Clark Howard's show on CNN & HLN, he did a piece last week about installing a solar thermal system in his home in Atlanta for JUST heating his domestic water. He paid $12,000.00 for it. He got two cheap, Chinese flat-plate collectors. I did notice that the solar company installed the most expensive tanks, controls, etc. They had to have sold the equipment to him at more than double the wholesale price. Times are tough and business is poor but that kind of pricing is criminal!

For $12,000, Mirasol Solar could have heated his domestic water AND HIS HOUSE in the winter AND HIS SWIMMING POOL in the summer. I was one of several people who wrote to Clark to tell him that he should have paid less than $5,000 for his system.

Clark calculated that his payback would take nine years. He thought that was a good deal, especially since savings and investments are paying so little. We would have had his ROI down to less than five years!

I hope that people will take this as a cautionary tale. We run into a lot of people who think they know all about solar and tell us how they think it should be designed. They've read an article or two online and they are sure solar thermal is easy to do. Maybe if they can just weasel out some information from us on the specific parts they need, they can do it themselves? (It's like going to the doctor, giving him your diagnosis and your instructions on how to treat your condition with OTC drugs and then wondering why you don't get better.) Those are the people who are most likely to get scammed in the end. I wonder if Clark wasn't one of those people.

See the story about Clark's solar system at:
http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2010/06/24/18697/

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Where is the Democracy for Clean Energy?

I grew up in a family with five children. We didn't have much. Popcorn and Kool-Aid were the only treats we could afford. There was always a discussion among us children as to which flavor of Kool-Aid we should choose. If some wanted grape and others wanted cherry, my mother would have us vote for the flavor. "OK," she would say, " Three for grape and two for cherry. The majority rules--so grape it is!" This is how we learned about democracy. There was no whining. There was no discussion. And, certainly, there was never a suggestion that we should have lemonade instead! The majority always ruled.

Today, democracy in our government does not seem to work that way. The rules for the Property-Assessed Clean Energy program were set up in a legal and democratic process. Suddenly, FannieMae and FreddieMac don't like it and they are allowed to derail the whole program. How can this be?

Write or call our elected representatives in Washington, DC and let them know you want them to get PACE moving. There are people in this state who are struggling with energy bills, especially propane users. Many families can barely afford to heat their homes and really want solar! There are a lot of other people in this state who need jobs. Many jobs would be created in New Mexico and other states through the PACE program.

Call or email Sen. Jeff Bingamin, Sen. Tom Udall, Rep. Marty Heinrich, Rep. Harry Teague and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan today and let them know you support PACE!

Click to send email to our elected representatives.

Senator Tom Udall
Senator Jeff Bingaman
Congressman Ben Lujan
Congressman Martin Heinrich