Sun & Wind Energy

Solar water heating systems at no upfront cost provided Skyline Innovations, Inc. to WGL Holdings, Inc. The companies announced in May the completion of solar water heating systems for three multi-family buildings in southern California, owned by Williams Holdings. The public utility holding company will receive solar hot water at a 25 % fixed discount to their utility rate for water heating.

“This agreement makes sense for our residents, our buildings and the environment,” says Kameron Segal, founder and CEO of Williams Holdings. “Skyline's strong business model gave us the confidence to green our properties, in turn reducing our operating expenses."

The use of the clean and free energy source allows Skyline to provide a fixed discount off of its customers' current and future utility rate. “This is a key differentiator from other solar financing offerings that lock customers into a price per unit of energy provided or escalating monthly fee”, explains Zach Axelrod, CEO of Skyline Innovations. By structuring its customer agreements in this way, and unlike conventional solar financing, the company eliminates all financial risk to the customer from utility rate fluctuation.

The Golden State projects mark Skyline's 31st project for multi-family housing. Based in Washington, D.C., Skyline recently expanded its operations to serve the California market with the opening of an office in Los Angeles. The Williams Holdings' systems will be eligible for the California Solar Initiative's Thermal Program. This program offers rebates of up to US$ 500,000 for affordable multi-family housing units that install solar thermal units to displace natural gas water heating. The systems were installed by California Solar Thermal, Inc. and SunUp Energy of San Diego.

Joachim Berner