Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to: 

• Summarize how site assessment data is used for financial modeling. 
• Recognize the relevance of energy consumption and PV production in financial modeling. 
• Navigate and explore the MREA PV Finance Model. 
• Locate resources on the MREA solarprojectbuilder.org website. 
• Explain which finance tool(s) to use and why. 
• Access and analyze customer utility tariff and rate plans. 
• Compare and contrast the differences between net metering, feed-in-tariffs, and value-of-solar rates. 
• Recognize the importance of using correct utility costs and escalator assumptions, and their impact on solar PV financial models. 
• Locate current solar policies and available incentives. 
• Discuss the importance of eligibility criteria, limitations, and requirements for securing incentives for PV installations. 
• Investigate how solar policies like net metering, feed-in-tariffs, value-of-solar rates, and taxes influence cash-flow projections of a PV project. 
• Describe financial terms, meanings, and concepts including: payback period, return on investment, net present value, internal rate of return, and profitability index. 
• Examine the concept of “time value of money.” 
• Explain how projected future energy costs and PV energy production are affected by the time value of money. 
• Evaluate how system pricing is calculated. 
• Explore what influences solar PV pricing. 
• Identify ongoing system costs and explain how to estimate them. 
• Explore what financing options are available to homeowners, commercial businesses, and tax-exempt entities. 
• Recognize how customers’ financial motivations influence which financing option is best for investing in a PV system. 
• Explain how financing options are influenced by return on investment. 
• Input project costs and assumptions into economic modeling tools. 
• Review a financial pro forma. 
• Recognize the relevance and importance that assumptions have on economic modeling.