In business, overhead expense refers to an ongoing expense of operating a business. Energy costs are a big component of overhead in many businesses. The International Indoor Soccer Arena (IISA) located in Albuquerque, N.M., recently trimmed its overhead expenses by installing a 44.95-kW-dc of mounted solar PV system. August marked the first full billing cycle of solar production since the system was turned on by PNM (Albuquerque’s electric utility). The result was that IISA went from a bill of almost $1,500 to a credit of $41.33. They swapped their bill for a check! One year prior, the electric bill showed a usage of 9,520 kWh with a bill of $1,428.43. By having solar installed, IISA saw a 103% reduction in their July electric bill.
Gabe Nosseir, owner and general manager of IISA, contacted Affordable Solar with the intention of gaining control of the electric costs associated with operating the indoor soccer arena. The arena’s pre-solar electric bill was averaging just over $1,300/month. After the installation of the 155 solar panels, the new average monthly electric bill will see a 92% reduction. The minimum energy output for year one is guaranteed to be 70,481 kWh. The estimated energy savings in year 1 will be $11,212. The estimated energy savings over 25 years will be $520,076. This is a significant savings for the successful operations of businesses of any size. The overall system cost was $143,000 and financing for the project was provided by Main Bank. The post-tax internal rate of return is a comparatively astounding 13%!
System Specifications:
Design and installation by Affordable Solar
155 Trina 290-Watt modules
6 Solectria 7,500-Watt inverters
Unirac Solar Mount racking system
— Solar Builder magazine
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