4 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Physical or Virtual Power ...

There are many compelling reasons why corporations are flocking toward offsite power purchase agreements (PPAs) as a way to achieve their sustainability commitments, contribute to the construction of more renewable energy projects, and manage unpredictable energy budgets. Unlike distributed/on-site power generation (e.g. rooftop solar panels), offsite PPAs are not limited by availability of suitable rooftop space, grid interconnection opportunities, or other constraints at a corporation's location.

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When a company decides to pursue an offsite power purchase agreement, the two most common options are a physical PPA or a virtual PPA (VPPA). VPPAs can also be referred to as a financial PPA, contract for differences, or fixed-for-floating swap. With either option, the company agrees to pay a fixed price for every megawatt-hour of clean energy that is generated, plus the associated renewable energy certificate (REC) that is created as a result of that power generation.

Although a physical PPA and VPPA may sound similar, in practice they are different. With a physical PPA, - as the name implies - the corporation, or a designated third party, takes title to the physical energy at a specified delivery point on the electric grid. The physical energy can then be transmitted from that specified delivery point to the corporation's energy account or meter.

With a VPPA, energy from the project flows onto the grid without a specific destination and the corporation does not physically receive the electrons. A VPPA is a financial contract for the underlying value of energy, not the energy itself. Often times in a VPPA, the only commodity exchanging hands between the project and the corporation are the RECs.

Before a company can decide which type of PPA to pursue, it should answer these four questions:

1. Where do we use most of our energy?

With a physical PPA, a corporation chooses to buy a portion of its power needs from a renewable energy project rather than its local utility or retail electric supplier. The project transfers legal title to the energy at a designated delivery point on the electric grid. Then the corporation, often with the help of third-party service providers called power marketers, can physically deliver the energy to another point on the electric grid, such as the corporation's meter. This arrangement isn't possible everywhere.

Physical PPAs are limited to states with "retail electricity choice," where energy consumers are allowed to buy power competitively on the retail level from an entity other than the local utility (see image below for a map of states that allow retail electricity choice, via EPA.gov).

In addition, the project must be located within the same wholesale electricity market as the corporation. For example, if a corporation wants the power delivered to a location within the PJM wholesale market that covers the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest, it would have to contract with a renewable energy project that is interconnected with and delivers to PJM. Below is a map of the seven wholesale markets in the U.S

Just as in many forms of trade and commerce, the greater the distance the power must travel, the greater the cost. For this reason, with a physical PPA, it is best if a company chooses a project that is located close to where it will consume the clean energy, like a headquarters or data center.

Physical PPAs are ideal for corporations that use most of their energy within a wholesale market that has retail electric choice (for example, a technology company with a large data center in Maryland). If the corporation uses energy at many locations (for example, a national coffee chain with stores in every city), a VPPA may be more practical.

With a VPPA, the corporation can be located anywhere, however it is easiest to facilitate if the project is located in one of the competitive wholesale electricity markets, which are run by Independent System Operators (ISOs). There are seven ISOs in the United States(see map above). These ISOs have sufficient market depth and liquidity at large trading hubs to allow a financial contract like a VPPA to be structured.

Though not necessary, there can be benefits to signing a VPPA with a project in the same ISO market as the corporation's energy consumption. For one, some corporations want to contract with a project that is electrically connected to the same grid as their consumption. In addition, projects located in the same ISO as the corporation's consumption will have a stronger correlation between the energy market price at the project location and the energy price the corporation is paying on its utility bills. A stronger correlation between these prices has the potential to create a more effective long-term hedge on the corporation's overall energy budget. For corporations looking to manage volatility in energy budgets, this correlation is an important consideration.

When choosing between a physical or virtual PPA, location matters. A corporation choosing a physical PPA must be located in both a) the same ISO as the project and b) a state with retail electricity choice. On the other hand, a corporation choosing a VPPA can be located anywhere, though the project must able to deliver its energy to an ISO market. While VPPAs offer more geographic flexibility, corporations must still take care when evaluating their procurement options.

2. Do we want to pay for energy management services?

Because the buyer of a physical PPA takes title to energy, these contracts require additional energy management services, which corporations often outsource to experienced third party providers called power marketers. Power marketers are licensed entities that move power through and around the ISO markets on behalf of buyers and sellers. Depending on where the corporation actually takes title to the energy, the corporation may also be subject to additional wholesale market participation requirements that are well outside the scope of their core business. In this way, physical PPAs may add an undesirable level of complexity (and cost) that a VPPA does not incur.

However, there are new emerging models for physical PPAs that may be appealing to some buyers. Some retail energy providers now offer physically delivered renewable energy products that can be wrapped seamlessly into monthly energy bills. These are called "retail sleeved PPAs." The retail energy provider manages all aspects of power marketing and other required services, while still delivering the buyer benefits associated with a PPA.

With a VPPA, the company simply pays for electricity from its energy provider(s) and conducts business as usual; no changes are required to the way it receives or manages energy. A VPPA does not impact how an energy consumer buys electricity to power its day-to-day operations. The buyer still sources all electricity needs through the local utility or preferred retail electric supplier, with the VPPA contract existing as a completely separate contract. In many cases, the buyer's utility or retail electric supplier is not aware of the VPPA.

3. Are we prepared to handle regulatory and accounting issues?

Physical PPAs and VPPAs have different regulatory obligations to which the buyer must adhere.

As mentioned previously, physical PPAs require a licensed power marketer to facilitate the delivery of physical energy from the project to the buyer's account. If the buyer elects to perform this service without the assistance of a third-party expert, there are significant certifications required (e.g. FERC licensing). Very few non-utility, corporate buyers have pursued a physical PPA without the assistance of a third-party due to these complexities.

VPPAs can trigger different accounting treatment and derivative reporting requirements than physical PPAs. Buyers should be aware of these requirements so they can avoid undesirable regulatory complexities. As a ‘swap' (i.e. fixed-for-floating swap) agreement, VPPAs trigger reporting, record-keeping, and registration requirements for the buyer and seller under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While these requirements are easily manageable, buyers should seek the proper commercial and legal guidance for how to fully understand them prior to executing a VPPA contract.

In addition, buyers must be attentive to provisions in VPPAs that have the potential to trigger derivative accounting, something corporate accounting teams prefer to avoid. One of the most common derivative accounting triggers is the creation of a minimum, guaranteed, or ‘notional' amount of production (e.g. a certain number of MWhs per year) from the renewable energy project. Rather than guaranteeing a number of MWhs per year, buyers should ask for a guaranteed percentage of time the project is available, which avoids derivative accounting because it cannot be translated to a MWh guarantee. Fortunately, there is now enough precedent in the industry that the big four accounting firms now routinely opine on these tricky accounting issues.

4. Do we want to sign a PPA with more than one project?

Signing a PPA (whether physical or virtual) with more than one project can be a way to mitigate risks. Given the restrictions on location and the cost of energy management services, participation in physical PPAs is limited, with projects that are located near the corporation's facilities. With VPPAs, it is easier for a corporation to purchase energy from a diverse array of projects, in multiple states and/or wholesale markets. For example, a company could purchase energy from a wind farm in ERCOT, a solar farm in PJM, and geothermal plant in CAISO.

Few corporations have the resources to gather data on hundreds of projects under development, analyze all of that information, and create a portfolio of PPAs that will maximize value and minimize risk. That's where LevelTen Energy can help. Using our Dynamic Matching Engine, LevelTen can analyze a massive amount of data on clean energy projects under development to find which ones best match a corporation's needs in terms of location, value, risk and other factors. Once a shortlist of optimal projects is identified, LevelTen can help the corporation enter into a power purchase agreement with the project developers.

About Wholesale Solar Panels

If you are looking for a place to buy wholesale solar panels, you’ve found it. A1 SolarStore offers PV modules from all over the world for competitive prices and with fast delivery. Let us tell you a little about the panels that we offer, how we deliver them and what kind of solar panel you might need.

Three types of solar panels

There are three most popular types of solar panels on the market: monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin-film. Monocrystalline or mono panels are the most reliable and efficient type, polycrystalline or poly panels are slightly cheaper, but less productive. Thin-film panels or flexible panels are special in a way that they are very light and bend well.

Monocrystalline panels are easy to distinguish by the black color of the cells. Their efficiency today varies from 16 to 22%, which means that mono solar cells convert into direct current from 16% to 22% of the sunlight that they receive. That’s the most popular type of panels — in fact, most top manufacturers don’t even sell anything else.

Polycrystalline panels are usually blue in color. They were dominant on the market 10-20 years ago, but today they slowly fade away. The reason for this is their low efficiency: 13%-17%. Manufacturing process is cheaper than it is with mono panels, but lower cost doesn’t quite justify low production levels. However, some brands still like to experiment with them and include them in their product line — for example, Canadian Solar offers both wholesale mono and polycrystalline solar panels.

Thin-film panels are a special thing. They are cheap and very easy to install, because they bend well and their weight is small. However, they are inefficient and their lifespan is considerably shorter than the lifetime of rigid panels. Usually, a flexible panel lasts for 10-15 years. They are quite popular in mobile installations, such as RV and boat systems. Because of their low price, wholesale lightweight solar panels can be a good choice for large projects, especially when the configurations of a surface make it difficult to install rigid modules.

Shanghai Gulier are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

Popular brands of solar panels

While China is an undeniable leader on the solar market, the companies from all over the world offer competitive solar products and we keep the best of them in stock. So what are the most popular and reliable solar panels wholesale suppliers? Let’s take a quick look at a few brands.

Panasonic

Panasonic is one the oldest and most well-known brands in electronics. The Japanese company gained a great reputation over the years. Photovoltaic panels from Panasonic are very high quality, packed with innovations and are known for outstanding performance at high temperatures.

Canadian Solar

The Canadian brand was founded by Chinese scientist Dr. Shawn Qu. The panels that the company offers for sale aren’t too expensive, but they are quite powerful and perform well in low-light conditions, such as cloudy days, winter and fall.

Trina Solar

This Chinese company competes in the Top-5 world’s largest solar brands. The panels from Trina Solar hold several world records for being the most efficient and productive. At the same time, the Chinese brand manages to keep the prices relatively low.

REC

Norwegian brand REC is known primarily for its premium-class residential PV modules. However, it doesn’t limit itself to this: the product line is wide enough that you can use wholesale REC solar panels for building a strong commercial system, small or large. REC products are known for high quality, great warranties and innovations.

JA Solar

The Chinese brand aims to be the largest solar brand in the world. JA Solar offers cheap, efficient, high output PV modules for all kinds of applications, but especially solar farms. For instance, JA Solar wholesale 500 Watt solar panels are a great choice for systems of a large scope. They feature simple design, low price and high output.

How much do wholesale solar panels cost?

Solar panels can be very different in terms of cost, and several factors impact the final price, such as wattage, brand, type of panel, warranties, etc. Whatever brand you pick, its solar panel wholesale price is lower than retail, so you end up saving a lot. Notice that at A1SolarSolar when it comes to the wholesale price of a solar panel, we show the cost per watt rather than per pallet or per panel.

Generally, solar market prices can be described like this: Asian panels, especially Chinese ones, are the cheapest ones. The most popular brands here are JA, LONGI, Trina Solar, ZNShine and many others. Asian PV modules are known for high efficiency and often provide very high output, which makes them probably the most popular choice when it comes to wholesale solar panels for sale for systems of a larger scope. However, their warranties for products are lower and quality issues are more frequent in comparison to US and European companies.

US manufacturers offer solar panels for a medium price. American PV modules aren’t always the most modern and they sometimes lack efficiency in comparison to the most advanced Chinese models. However, the quality is there and the panels are sturdy and resilient. You could say that US brands are a good middle-of-the-road choice. Among the most popular USA brands of wholesale solar panels we could mention Mission Solar, Canadian Solar and Silfab.

There are also a few brands that offer premium-class PV modules for home installations. These include Panasonic Eco Solutions, LG, SunPower, REC, Solaria and a few others. Generally, it doesn’t make much sense to build commercial systems out of them — they are too classy and expensive for that. However, you might save quite a lot by opting to go for their wholesale solar roof panels. They often come with the best warranties on the market, have great design and withstand all kinds of harsh weather — a great choice for your home.

Commercial and residential systems

Our customers use solar panels for residential, commercial and industrial projects — solar energy proves to be a reliable and efficient tool in different circumstances. The panels that are used in home and business systems differ in their output, size and type of installation. Let’s go over the basics.

Power output

Generally, homeowners pick panels in the 300 to 370 Watt power range. For example, a 350 watt panel is a very popular choice for home installations. The average size of a residential system in the USA is 5-6 kW, so you usually need around 17-25 modules to power your home appliances with solar.

When it comes to commercial and industrial systems, customers tend to go for wholesale high power solar panels. 500 watt panels or even more powerful ones is a common thing in large solar projects and solar farms. That’s only natural: the energy needs of enterprises are huge and there is no reason not to maximize the power output per square foot when you want as much energy as possible.

Size

Panels for home systems usually have 60/120 cells. They are relatively small and it's easier to fit them on a house roof. Their dimensions are about 39 x 66 inches. A 120-cell panel is the same size as 60-cell panels because of the half-cut cell technology. Generally all panels with 300-370 Watts of power have 60/120 cells.

In systems of a larger scope 72/144-cell and 96-cell are used more often. Usually, space constraints are less of a problem with commercial systems, therefore there is no reason not to pick up larger panels with higher power output. 72/144 cell panels are approximately 39 x 77 inches in size.

400 watt wholesale solar panels are an interesting case. They are the middle-of-the-road choice and you can often see them both in residential and commercial installations. They often have 66/132 cells and their dimensions vary from 39 x 71 to 39 x 77 inches.

Installation type

The majority of home solar systems are installed on the roof. It’s only natural: homeowners rarely use roof space for anything else. Larger systems are often ground-based, since massive energy production with powerful wholesale solar panels is a priority. Small and medium commercial systems are often installed on a flat roof, which makes a system similar to a ground-based one.

Almost all installations of a large scope (>10-15 kW) are grid-tie, which means that they are connected to the grid. An owner of a grid-tie installation is free to use commercial electricity, but he also can pump his excess solar energy into the grid and gain credits from his electric utility. When systems get large, it becomes too expensive to add batteries for support.

The majority of residential systems are grid-tie as well, but going off-grid is a reasonable option here. It makes sense when power outages are too frequent or there are no power lines available. A solar system can become the only source of energy for a house in a remote location: PV modules power the appliances during the day and at night you rely on energy storage. Just a couple of batteries is usually enough to back up a small size solar system.

Shipping

You might be wondering — how exactly are we going to deliver the pallet? A1 SolarStore has a distribution network throughout continental US. We work with the top freight carriers XPO, FedEx, ODFL, R&L etc. The panels are shipped with LTL/Freight service. Freight orders are delivered in a manner called ‘curbside delivery’, which generally means that the carrier delivers the pallet to the end of your driveway.

Important things to remember:

• You’ll have to climb into the truck and unload the pallet and all boxes for the order yourself. A liftgate can be used to take the pallet off the truck and lower it to the ground level. However, this is considered to be extra service — you’ll have to order and pay for it in advance.
• The carrier is not responsible for delivering the pallet up your driveway or onto your property.

Alongside wholesale solar panels for your home and business, we also ship batteries, inverters, charge controllers and addons with FedEx Ground.

How to carry solar panels

When you receive a shipment or grab your order at our fulfillment center, it’s important to remember a few guidelines about how to carry and move solar panels around.

When you carry a panel, try not to apply too much pressure in one spot. Distribute the weight of a module across your shoulder, arm and back. The installation process should be handled by professionals. Generally, they use a mechanical lift to get the panels up on the roof and some workers use a ladder instead.

If you want to grab the panels yourself at one of our fulfillment centers, leave a note "palletized order" in request comments. The pallet is a bit bigger than a panel and it might not fit in the back of every car. If you want to take the panels as they are, prepare some sort of packaging to minimize the risk of cracking the module. You can use foam pads, bubble wrap, and even blankets. Don't put anything on top of the panels!

Why buy from us

So where to buy solar panels wholesale? A1 SolarStore is a great choice for several different reasons.

• Our fulfillment centers are located on both east and west coasts of the USA: California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Missouri. You can check our map that shows the current availability of products in fulfillment centers.
• We process all orders within 24 hours and ship them within 48 hours. Delivery usually takes between 4-7 business days — you get your order within a week.
• All of our suppliers are trusted manufacturers. We sell no counterfeit products.
• We offer competitive prices and there are several payment options available.

All of this makes A1 SolarStore the best place to buy solar panels wholesale. Our staff is ready to help you with your purchase and answer all of your questions about delivery, warranties and availability.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website wholesale space solar cells(ar,ru,ko).