In this first video in the 6-part series on why nonprofits and their installers go solar with CollectiveSun, Nicole Withrow of CollectiveSun and Kerim Baran of SolarAcademy discuss the unique discount offered by CollectiveSun for nonprofits seeking to go solar.
You can view the full-length video interview with Nicole here.
Transcript of the video:
Kerim Baran of SolarAcademy: Hi everyone. This is Kerim Baran of SolarAcademy and today I have with me, Nicole Withrow from CollectiveSun. Nicole, we’ve known each other for at least a year and – probably a couple of years that you’ve been at CollectiveSun and I’ve been familiar with CollectiveSun for a number of years. And I know you guys as the leader of solar in the world of nonprofit, and you’ve been there as a sales leader for a good while.
And today I want to talk to you about solar and nonprofits and how you guys are helping nonprofits to go solar. So with that, I guess my first question is, tell us why every solar installer in the U S should be aware of CollectiveSun’s 12% solar discount for non-profits?
Nicole Withrow of CollectiveSun: I think that one of the main reasons would be there are 1.6 million non-profits out there nationwide. That’s a lot of business. That’s a vertical installers should be aware of. And it’s a category that’s really well aligned, mission-wise to going solar. So you have people that are thinking about caring for the planet and to them that equals solar. So it’s kind of a no brainer. Don’t leave nonprofits off the table. Definitely think of them as an important category for solar.
And you want to include CollectiveSun in that mix because your nonprofits cannot monetize tax benefits. So they need a way to do that. And we can solve that problem by adding a 12% or more discount to their solar project, but better than a PPA because they’re going to own the energy from day one as soon as that system’s powered. They’re going to benefit from the utility avoided costs right away.
And they are going to keep any incentives or rebates that exist outside of those federal tax benefits. So in some of the markets where you guys are working there are renewable energy credits. There are net metering benefits. There are incentives coming at the state or local level. They get to keep all of those. And on top of that, they get to benefit from that 12% or more discount from CollectiveSun. So it really becomes a great selling tool for an installer.