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LED Lighting uses 87% less Electricity

By switching your current lighting to LED, you can reduce your lighting kilowatt usage by up to 87%. LED lighting lasts approximately 25 times longer than incandescent and 17 times longer than CFL bulbs. That means you could save money for up to 20 years before changing bulbs!

Converting to LED products provide many benefits to your organization :
• A guaranteed lower electric bill with typical reductions of 40% to 87% off your current electricity lighting bill through reduced kilowatt hour usage and kW demand charges
• Improves lighting quality and efficiency – LED lights produce more light per watt than incandescent and halogen bulbs
• No flickering
• Health Benefits: Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to older style flickering fluorescent lighting can cause headaches and premature fatigue. This is eliminated when updating to LED lighting
• Reduced noise
• Lights instantly
• Durability – Unlike very fragile incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, LED lights are made with solid state components making them difficult to break with external shock
• 100% Mercury free and environmentally friendly, which eliminates costly fluorescent bulb and mercury recycling and disposal
• LEDs produce no UV radiation
• LED lights produce virtually no heat, which will result in lower cooling costs during the A/C months
• 2, 3, and 5-year warranty available / over 50,000 hour bulb life expectancy
• Lifespan: LED lights can last up to 100,000 hours, or up to 5 times longer than the best fluorescent bulbs, 7 times the life expectancy of high pressure sodium and metal halide bulbs, and up to 30 times longer than halogen bulbs
• Reduced or eliminated high maintenance costs, as a result of the long lifespan
• Very fast return on investment (ROI typically 18-36 months or less) and typical net positive monthly cash flow from electric bill savings, labor and bulb replacement savings, power company credits, low interest financing, as well as state and federal tax incentives
• Significantly reduces your organization’s carbon footprint
• Greatly reduces harmful EMF’s (electromagnetic fields)

Energy efficiency gets a boost in Pennsylvania

Act 129: Energy efficiency gets a boost in Pennsylvania
Act 129 requires electric distribution companies to cut their consumption and demand by specified levels by offering customers a portfolio of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs. The law is good for the people of Pennsylvania as well as our environment.
In 2008, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell signed landmark legislation known as Act 129. The Act requires electric distribution companies to cut their consumption and demand by certain specified levels. Specifically, it requires them to reduce their overall electricity load by 1 percent by May 31, 2011 and 3 percent by May 31, 2013, and to reduce peak demand by 4.5 percent by offering electric customers a portfolio of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs. The law also gave the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) the authority to extend the program, if it was determined to be cost effective.

The effect of Act 129 is to reduce the demand for energy, create thousands of green jobs, cut pollution, and reduce the need to build new power plants and transmission lines. PennFuture played a vital role in proposing key provisions of the legislation that became Act 129, testifying before legislative committees, and working with key members of the General Assembly to pass the legislation. This inside game was complemented by the hard work of staff and volunteer members to organize town halls and to visit and write legislators.

Several years later, Act 129 has proven to be cost-effective and beneficial to electric consumers. In fact, investment in energy efficiency as a result of Act 129 has saved electric customers over $278 million each year. As a result, in 2012, a Statewide Evaluator was contracted by the PUC to make additional recommendations to the PUC as to increased reduction goals. The Statewide Evaluator issued a study which looked at program potential, acquisition costs, and available funding for each utility and recommended new electricity load reduction goals ranging from 1.6 percent to 2.9 percent, with a statewide average of 2.3 percent. On August 2, 2012, the PUC voted 5-0 to adopt a Final Order extending the Act 129 energy efficiency and conservation programs for a second phase, and adopted the findings of the Statewide Evaluator’s study. This phase will run from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2016.

Start small and grow every year

You want to go Solar but it’s a big leap……..

Then start small and grow your Solar Array every year! We can install a 4* to an 8* panel array now and add 4** solar panels a year as you go Solar! By adding 1Kw per year as you go Solar, you will meet your ideal energy goals in a short time!

Made in the USA

90% of all solar modules being sold and installed in the USA are imported from overseas companies. This is forcing USA companies to relocate their factories overseas for lower production costs and to remain competitively priced in the global market.

We are proud of our line up of Solar modules which are made in the USA.

Our commitment to reliable and sustainable energy along with our commitment for excellence and to help sustain our economy is evident in the products we recommend. Made in the USA.

Our line up of made in the USA Modules includes: Advanced Solar Photonics ( Florida), Motech (Delaware), Suniva (Georgia), Solar World (California), Lumos (Colorado), Silicon Energy (Washington), Perlight Solar

Schott Solar and Sharp ending operations in U.S.

Osaka-based Sharp, and Schott Solar plan to cut more than 10,000 jobs world wide, which will end solar panel production in U.S.

Solar Renewable Energy Credit Proposed Legislation

Representative Chris Ross (R) will be introducing legislation to the rapidly unfolding crisis in the solar energy developement industry in Pennsylvania. When PA created the Alternative Energy portfolio Standards legislation in 2004, the solar energy requirements were carefully constructed to start low and increase very gradually over the first 10 years. We also allowed facilities that were established in other neighboring states and were part of the PJM management transmission network to qualify for PA SRECs. Over the past several years, a very substantial increase in solar installations, due to grant programs such as PA Solar, have overwhelmed the SREC requirements. For example, the credit year total requirments are 44 Megawatts, but we currently have at least 78 megawatts that are registered and which qualify for credits. In the near future, based on PA solar grant approvals, another 110 megawatts will be coming on line, which will eliminate all incentives for new installations until 2015. A number of Solar developers have confirmed that they are pulling out of PA and taking their jobs to other states. Furthermore, neighboring states have refused to extend reciprocity, and either restrict or don’t accept PA solar installations as qualifying for their SRECs. Therfore, REP. Chris Ross’s legislation would propose to adjust the solar renewable energy credits for years 2012-2013,2013-2014, and 2014-2015 to bring the demand for credits back in line with expected supply, and require future registration of solar installations to be restricted to those tied to PA’s distribution network.

Lower your monthly electric bill by 25%

Anyone interested in saving up to 25% per month on monthly electric bills, needs to learn about this little known secret on lost power in homes and businesses.

Residential and business customers throughout Pennsylvania could see a realized savings of 8% – 10% typically and as much as 25% on their electrical usage (and thus power bills) by improving the power factor.

Improving Power Factor Lowers Electric Bills

Power Factor is used to describe the energy efficiency of the power being used in your home or business. For example, a .59 Power Factor means that only 59% of the electricity that is being drawn thru your meter is being used effectively, the other 41% is being wasted!

Very good Power Factor is .90 or 90% or better. When your Power Factor is low, it causes a strain on your electric distribution system and the electric wiring in your home or business.

This strain heats up the wires and panels and causes line losses, forcing you to pay for electricity you’re not using that is lost in heat dissipation. Therefore, increasing power factor is the key to saving money on electricity.

We can correct your power factor

By installing a power factor correction conditioner

This conditioner known as the Power-Save 1200™ reduces the amount of power drawn from the utility by storing electricity otherwise lost from the motors in your home. The unit supplies this stored electricity back to your appliances, decreasing demand from the utility. Decreasing demand means less usage and lower electric bills

Power-Save 1200™ was designed with the homeowner in mind, providing lower energy bills, increased motor and appliance life, for all of the equipment inside of your house

For Commercial and industrial and 3 phase applications using a Power-Save 3400™ you can Reduce the Amount of Inductive Load in your environment and significantly lower power bills.

The many benefits of having a Power-Save installed include

Lowers electric bills up to 25%!
• Reduces electricity required by motors!
• Enhances capacity of existing electrical system!
• Eliminates harmful power surges!
• Protects appliances and electronic equipment!
• Reduces harmful effects of electrical noise!
• Power Factor Optimization!

Having us install the Power-Save Includes a 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee and a 5-year Warranty!

Can You afford not to try it?

Call or e-mail us today and start saving tomorrow!

Proposed Changes to Solar ITC & Section 1603

Cash-in-lieu of ITC would be replaced by deemed tax payment. One major change is that the Bill allows the Section 1603 Grant program to expire.

Section 1603, which was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), allowed companies who installed solar energy systems to receive a cash grant in lieu of Investment Tax Credits or Production Tax Credits. In other words, a business investing $100,000 in a solar energy project could receive a one-time payment from the Treasury for $30,000. This allowed businesses who did not have a tax appetite (due to the recession of 2009-2010) to receive the same financial benefits as they would have received with a tax credit.

In place of renewing Section 1603, the Bill would allow the taxpayer to elect a refundable deemed tax payment in lieu of the Investment Tax Credit or Production Tax Credit. Using the example above, a deemed tax payment means that the $30,000 cash grant would be treated as a $30,000 tax payment. In the event that $30,000 exceeds the actual tax liabilities of the business, the taxpayer could file for a refund. Treating the ITC and PTC as refundable deemed tax payments means the system owner will likely need to wait longer to receive the value of the federal incentive, but would not need to have the full tax appetite to fully utilize the subsidy.

Announcement!

P.A. Michael Solar Electrical Systems is proud to announce our affiliation with the Sol systems company. Sol Systems provides solar installers, homeowners and businesses with the financial tools to make solar energy more affordable & accessible.