Pub. 8 2018 Issue 4

14 AUTOMOBILE DEALER NEWS ILLINOIS www.illinoisdealers.com S olar powered charging stations for hybrid cars. Planes designed to fly using solar power. Homes with their own panels and batteries. The list of successful solar photovoltaic (PV) applications keeps growing, but what about your dealership’s facilities? U.S. auto dealers spend about $2 billion each year for electricity, according to the National Auto Dealers Association. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, U.S. dealerships use about 18 percent more energy per square foot than a typical office building. The best opportunities for saving energy can be found in the areas of highest consumption—lighting and HVAC systems. According to the Small Business Administration, a car dealership’s lighting costs can be as much as 50 percent of its overall energy use. Dealerships who want to reduce operating costs and enhance their green marketing message often explore using solar PV to supply a portion of the electrical energy for their facilities. Being environmentally friendly and contributing to sustainability are important considerations for many of today’s automotive buyers. Especially as these buyers are typically doing a lot of research online before committing to looking at a vehicle on your lot. Traditional Solar PV benefits: • Can substantially reduce electrical base load – that means you may avoid extremely expensive peak demand charges from your electrical utility • Solar projects can qualify for 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit • Electric utilities may offer substantial incentives • No price increases for electricity generated by the solar panels • Reinforces a green marketing message • Panels can produce power for 40-years • Payback is less than 7-years, on average Things to be aware of: Traditional solar PV systems can be complicated to integrate into your building’s electrical system and electrical utility grid. 15% to 30% of the electrical power generated by solar panels can be lost in the typical PV conversion and integration process that supplies power to your facility. New! Solar-powered Hybrid LED System There is a new solar powered Hybrid LED system just launched into the market right now. The solar PV electrical power is not converted or integrated as it is in a traditional system. This new solar/LED system takes the electrical power from the solar panels and puts it directly into Hybrid LED fixtures without using any of the traditional equipment or conversions. Solar-powered Hybrid LED has additional benefits to traditional PV: • Reduce operating costs for interior lighting by up to 100% for significant portions of the day • Eliminate virtually allmaintenance costs for interior lighting • 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit applies to your entire interior lighting project (including labor) • Less expensive and more efficient than traditional solar PV that needs to convert and integrate the solar power into your electrical grid • No conversion losses Solar Power – Hybrids Aren’t Just For Cars Anymore