We are proud to announce that Sunetric CEO Alex Tiller has been named a finalist for the Business Executive of the Year category at the 2nd Annual Pacific Edge Magazine Business Achievement Awards! The Business Achievement Awards are designed to “spotlight those businesses who have made a difference in business and the community.”

The red-carpet awards gala will be on Thursday, May 31st from 5:30pm to 9:00pm at the Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace.

As a result of more eyes on the Foam-free Hawaii campaign, we’ve just added a half-dozen restaurants to our list. We’re also starting to hand out our eco-friendly awards, and putting photos of them all on Facebook.

Sunetric leads the charge against Styrofoam in Hawaii

Pacific Business News — April 10, 2012:

One of Hawaii’s largest solar design and installation companies is leading an effort that doesn’t include the sun. Kailua-based Sunetric is trying to help other businesses reduce their usage of, or eliminate altogether, Styrofoam as part of its “Foam Free Hawaii” campaign.

Since then, during the past several months, Sunetric has been engaging with customers and fans on its social media sites and talking to environmental groups to identify their favorite Styrofoam free restaurants. It has developed a list of more than 40 Styrofoam-free restaurants and is recognizing each restaurant with an eco-friendly award and a sticker decal to display, which hopes to inform their patrons of their commitment to using environmentally friendly products.

Read more at PBN.

Solar energy firm pushes no-Styrofoam restaurants

Honolulu Star-Advertiser — April 11, 2012:

Say no to Styrofoam. That’s the goal of the “Foam Free Hawaii” campaign started by local solar energy firm Sunetric to discourage Hawaii restaurants from using foam packaging.

Read more at the Star-Advertiser.

Read the full text of the article below or at the Hawaii Business website:

Q: As a small business owner, what are the tax benefits of installing a photovoltaic system?

A: A photovoltaic system is an incredible investment for Hawaii business owners. By installing and owning a PV system, you are protecting all or part of your power use from future electric rate increases. In Hawaii, electric rates have increased by an average of 6 percent each year since 1991.

In addition to offsetting rising electricity costs, tax incentives, when coupled with depreciation, can offset up to 8o percent of the upfront cost of a commercial PV system. How quickly those credits apply depends on your tax situation, so it is always best to consult a tax professional in addition to your solar provider.

Here is a closer look at commercial incentives available this year:

Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Technology Income Tax Credit

This allows businesses to claim a state in come tax credit of 35 percent for the cost of the PV system. In 2009, Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law Act 154. (Senate Bill 464, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009), allowing customers the option of converting their income tax credit into a refundable tax credit at a rate of 24.5 percent.

U.S. Treasury Tax Credit

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allows taxpayers eligible for the federal business energy investment tax credit to take this credit equivalent to 30 percent of the installed cost of a PV system. This credit is available through 2016.

Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) Depreciation Deduction and Special Depreciation

PV systems placed into service in 2012 are eligible for a bonus depreciation of 50 percent, which means up to 50 percent of the cost basis of the project can be depreciated in the same year it is placed into service. In addition, the remaining o percent of the cost basis is also eligible for MACRS accelerated depreciation and, when combined with the special depreciation, allows up to 6o percent depreciation in the first year alone.

Alex Tiller
CEO, Sunetric

Paul Craig has been appointed Electrical Engineer, PE and Robert Branson as Warehouse Manager.

Paul Craig, an Electrical Engineer, PE, and Project Manager licensed in Hawaii and Colorado with more than 17 years of engineering experience joins Sunetric as Electrical Engineer, PE, and will be responsible for the design and engineering components of the company’s residential and commercial jobs. Craig received his Bachelor’s in Science from the United States Air Force Academy, a Master’s in Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Robert Branson brings over 15 years of experience to his new role as Sunetric’s Warehouse Manager. As the Warehouse Manager, Branson will be responsible for ensuring proper inventory of the company’s products and ensuring that solar modules are in stock for projects. Prior to moving to Hawaii in 2010, Branson spent over 10 years working for various companies in Indiana.

Sunetric, a Kailua, Hawaii-based solar power developer, has hired Tyler Fauerbach, v.p. power finance at U.S. Bank.

Fauerbach recently joined Sunetric in Denver as managing director of project finance & strategic development, SparkSpread has learned.

He is responsible for raising debt, tax equity and cash equity for Sunetric’s residential, commercial and utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., according to an industry source.

Sunetric’s completed projects include a 600 kW roof-mounted photovoltaic system on a warehouse owned by Y. Hata & Co., a food service distributor; and a 229 kW roof-mounted PV system for Kona Brewing Co., a Hawaiian brewing company.

Prior to a five-year stint at U.S. Bank, Fauerbach was an energy banker at CoBank.

Sunetric is posting extensive interviews with each beneficiary on its blog (sunetric.com/blog) and Facebook page (facebook.com/sunetricsolar), and is raising awareness by giving away prizes throughout February and March, including 13 iPod Shuffles, and a grand prize microbrew kit and stereo cooler.

The Brewers Festival raises funds for environmental, educational and cultural causes, donating $475,000 over the past 16 years to Big Island charitable organizations. This year’s beneficiaries include: The Aloha Performing Arts Company; ACF Chefs de Cuisine Kona Kohala Chapter; Hawaii Montessori School at Kona; Honaunau Elementary School; Hualalai Academy; Innovations Public Charter School; Kealakehe Project Grad; the Donkey Mill Art Center; Kona Historical Society; Kona Pacific Public Charter School; the Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii; the Society for Kona’s Education and Art; and the Na Wai Iwi Ola Foundation.

“This is Sunetric’s third year serving as the Community Champion Sponsor of the festival,” said Sunetric CEO Alex Tiller. “We are proud to help put a spotlight on these vital Big Island organizations that contribute so much to our communities, and also educate the public about solar technologies.”

Sunetric has donated $30,000 in the past three years of the festival. The company will also provide the popular Watt Wheels mobile solar energy station – a bright blue Honda Element that has been retrofitted with three 230-watt SunPower modules – to power one of the festival’s stages. Watt Wheels is provided at events as a community service by Sunetric.

“We couldn’t host the Kona Brewers Festival without the generous continuing support of Sunetric and other sponsors,” said Kona Brewers Festival Executive Director Kate Jacobson. “Each year, Sunetric steps up and provides the seed money to get things rolling for this extraordinary community celebration and benefit.”

Solar Beer Production

Sunetric is committed to brewing with solar power. In 2010, Sunetric installed a 229-kilowatt (kW) solar energy system for Kona Brewing Company, which started the Brewers Festival in 1996. The system now offsets nearly half of the annual energy consumption at the company’s Kailua-Kona flagship brewery and pub. The brewery is the first in Hawaii to produce beer using solar power, and has one of the largest solar arrays of any craft brewer in the United States.

The Kona Brewing Company solar array has:

• Produced 314,563 pints, or 2,537 kegs, of hand-crafted brew to date.
• Produced enough wattage to power 76 average residences each day.
• Conserved 734 barrels of oil to date; the equivalent of 4,498 trips around the Big Island.
• Prevented 691,132 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere – the equivalent of taking 2,425 mid-sized cars off the road.
• Saved Kona Brewing Company $209,416 in electric costs in 2011 alone.

After a shakeup in the Hawaii Solar Energy Association’s leadership that included the ouster of board President Mark Duda, the trade group has announced its 2012 board of directors.

Board members are:

• President Gabriel Chong, who is special projects manager for Sunetric

…

Read more.

Kailua, HI – Sunetric, Hawaii’s leading solar design and installation company, joins fellow local solar companies and renewable energy organizations in their opposition against House Bill 2417, which will limit the number of claimable renewable energy technology system tax credits. Sunetric employees will be joining industry representatives in opposing HB 2417 which is scheduled to be heard by the House of Representatives’ Finance Committee at 2pm today.

“At a time when Hawaii’s solar industry is expanding, House Bill 2417, in its current form proposes changes that are too abrupt for both residential and commercial customers,” said Sunetric CEO Alex Tiller. “Additionally, reducing the impact of renewable technology credits will negatively impact future investments by residents and local companies in renewable energy.”

House Bill 2417, House Draft 1 currently proposes to do the following:

1. Limit the claimable tax credit for each subject tax map key\
2. Allow nonresidential tax map keys to claim a tax credit instead of commercial properties
3. Change the tax credit cap for photovoltaic solar energy systems on each nonresidential tax map key number to $1,500 per kilowatt for the first 300 kilowatts and unspecified amount per kilowatt for the next 4,700 kilowatts

“We are just now getting traction and becoming successful in reducing this state’s dependence on imported oil, and the result of being successful in our efforts to date has been explosive job growth and increased tax revenues to the state. This proposed legislation is contrary to two of the state’s most important goals,” said Tiller.

Earlier this year, we mistakenly submitted our 2011 sales figure of $132 million instead of our revenue figure which is $42 million, for PBN’s annual survey of photovoltaic providers. Both figures are important in measure success as revenue indicates last year’s results and sales is a good indicator of forthcoming revenue.

Fortunately, our ranking was based on the accurately reported installed kilowatts metric, and not financial measures. It is important to use that we don’t misrepresent ourselves, or our industry, so I want to personally take this opportunity to formally apologize to the team at PBN and to the paper’s readership for the error. It was not intentional. It was genuinely a mistake which I am deeply embarrassed by.

In 2004, Sunetric was founded on the belief that people should leave the world a much better place than how they found it and that the company would strive to build a more sustainable, energy-independent future for us all. We are devoted to these ideals and believe our values contribute to our rapid growth and continued success. Sunetric is continuing to blaze ahead as the industry leader here at home and now on the U.S. Mainland. No matter how big the company gets, or how far it goes, Sunetric will continue working to make the world a better place, which includes being the first to admit when a mistake has been made and then setting forth to correct it.

Bill Flook, Staff Reporter

Sunetric Inc., Hawaii’s biggest homegrown clean energy company, is establishing a District presence as part of a broader expansion onto the continental U.S..

The Kailua-based company, which already does substantial business with the U.S. military in Hawaii, is setting up shop in D.C. to capture a greater share of federal contracts.

“We think that’s a good sweet spot for us, from a growth standpoint,” said Sunetric CEO Alex Tiller, who cited clean energy mandates for Defense Department facilities as a potential source of contracts.

Sunetric has 140 employees in its Hawaiian headquarters and only a handful in its D.C. branch.

The solar company has also set up offices in Denver and Pittsburgh, which is serving as its launching ground for East Coast commercial operations, Tiller said.

The company designs and builds roof-mounted photovoltaic installations for homes, businesses and government buildings.

“We know that energy is on the minds of our government,” Tiller said. “We know that there is going to be a large federal market in the solar space over the next five years.”

President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget, for example, carves out $27.2 billion for the Energy Department, including $6.7 billion on clean energy programs and cash grants for wind and solar companies.

Sunetric is, however, stepping into a tougher political climate for federal clean energy spending after the collapse of solar panel maker Solyndra LLC, which put taxpayers on the hook for $535 million in loan guarantees.

Though, Tiller said, Solyndra “is proof positive that the federal government isn’t trying to pick particular technologies.”