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218 managed over time, with the benefit for the subscription manager to own the <br />219 system and subscriptions, so if an original subscriber moved out of the system, it <br />220 could be sold back to the subscription manager for resale, but the entity had to <br />221 know how to manage the system for twenty five year or more. <br />222 <br />223 At the request of Member Seigler, Mr. Ross advised that he didn't see financing <br />224 for community solar systems to be a problem at this time, especially with 30% tax <br />225 credits available until 2016; with the City considering financing options for <br />226 facilities on City buildings, as confirmed by Mr. Schwartz. <br />227 <br />228 Ms. Barsel asked for comparisons on a private community solar versus one hosted <br />229 by the City on the City Hall campus, or versus the City owning its own system. <br />230 <br />231 Mr. Ross noted there was uncertainty in how those different options played out, <br />232 with the City of Falcon Heights entering into a PPA and not owning their system, <br />233 with charges based on the system's production; while the City of Minneapolis <br />234 bought the system and installed it on their fire station using grant monies, and <br />235 capturing all the benefits of it, and since it is afire station, it pays a demand <br />236 charge making it difficult at this point to determine how much of a benefit they'll <br />237 receive from that arrangement. <br />238 <br />239 Ms. Barsel noted that the City of Minneapolis still had liability, whereas with an <br />240 external developer, they had the risk for liability and maintenance. <br />241 <br />242 Mr. Ross concurred, but noted the average lifespan for a solar system was twenty - <br />243 five years or more, with the typical problem being failure of some solar panels, <br />244 but typically those panels lasted for a long time and usually outlasted their <br />245 projected life cycle. Mr. Ross advised that the failure usually was in the wiring or <br />246 inverters (e.g. electronics) requiring some maintenance, and periodic cleaning of <br />247 panels to keep their production at maximum. <br />248 <br />249 Mr. Schwartz noted, confirmed by Mr. Ross, that the expected life for the inverter <br />250 was 15 years, with some replacement needed during the lifetime of the system. <br />251 <br />252 Mr. Schwartz questioned if it was safe to say that buying your own system, unless <br />253 getting grant monies, the payback was long-term compared to the role of a private <br />254 financial partner able to take advantage of tax credits. <br />255 <br />256 For a public entity unable to take advantage of tax credits, Mr. Ross advised that <br />257 there was a big difference. However, Mr. Ross advised that his firm was working <br />258 on the potential GESP (government energy savings program) to assist local <br />259 governments in capturing credits, with the state overseeing the program to meet <br />260 their goal for energy savings. However, at this time, Mr. Ross advised that <br />261 contracts were private versus public so any public systems were at the mercy of <br />262 the performance contractor. Therefore, Mr. Ross opined a municipality would <br />263 almost always do better on their own, but if they didn't have experienced staff to <br />Page 6 of 15 <br />