When it comes to saving energy, the Church and State work together in Massachusetts.
And there is one company that makes sure that happens: Resonant Energy, where its platform brings together clients (usually nonprofit organizations like churches, universities) seeking solar access and financiers for those projects.
Massachusetts has one of the best solar energy programs in the country and is most friendly to rooftop solar. And 2-year-old Resonant Energy puts that to best use. What started with a community project to solar power a church in Dorchester five years ago is now a company that’s eight-member strong and looking onto a million dollar funding round next year.
Isaac Baker, co-president of Resonant Energy, ran a community solar project that brought together churches in Dorchester and got them financed with local resources. The program was run with pastors in the area.
"That's how our company came together," Baker said. Today, the company works with churches, nonprofits, and low-income single-family homes to bring solar energy to their rooftops.
Community-based solar power model is not a new phenomenon. Startups like Solstice Initiative and BlueWave offer exactly that: a farm share model for community solar projects. What then sets Resonant Energy apart?
"We have figured out financing for lower-income single-family homes." It costs anywhere between $18,000 and $25,000 to buy and install a 5.13-kilowatt system in Massachusetts. These initial costs can be an entry barrier for lower-income families and nonprofit organizations like churches and schools to access solar power. Resonant Energy claims that it can bring solar access to any rooftop in Massachusetts, regardless of the user's credit.
The company brought solar power to churches in Dorchester, Medford, and Arlington, Smith College in Northampton, Epiphany School, which is an independent school for children of economically disadvantaged families and Commonwealth Kitchen, a nonprofit community kitchen based in Quincy. Baker noted that such institutions are riddled with a languid decision-making process, usually taking one-two years for approving projects. Baker claims that his company has been able to reduce that to six-nine months. Resonant Energy also helps secure loans for institutions that are not credit-rated.
Energy savings from solar power sells itself -- An average residential project that pays $20-25,000 for installation gets amortized in five years and yields savings of up to $80,000 over the equipment's lifetime which is about 25 years. This includes other incentives like state and federal tax credits, rebates from the state. And remember, Massachusetts has one of the best solar energy programs in the country like the SMART program.
Project financiers or investors on Resonant Energy's platform earn monthly payments from users, a 30 percent federal investment tax and depreciation, and state incentive payments: 10-20 years of quarterly cash payments from the utility (governed by the Dept. of Energy Resources)
The company has serviced close to 40 projects in the last six months in Massachusetts and Long Island City in New York. It has brought solar panels to many roofs in Dorchester, Somerville, Cambridge, Northhampton and Worcester.
