Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation (NUUC) Solar: Debentures Speaker: Rick Salay, Chair, Greening Committee, NUUC Part of the 2010 Community Power Finance Forum at MaRS: http://www.marsdd.com/communitypower

1. THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD
SOLAR PROJECT
Rick Salay
Chair, Greening Committee
Neighbourhood Unitarian
Universalist Congregation

2. How it began …
• A Green$aver audit gave us the initial agenda
• Feed-in Tariff made solar panels a reality
• Objective: Take concrete social action to reduce our
environmental footprint by putting a 25kw solar array on the
roof of the church
• (A) Involves community and is inclusive
• (B) Acts as a model for other groups and individuals
• (C) Is financially viable by being self-sustaining so that we do
not place a financial burden on the congregation
• (D) Provides an opportunity to educate others about
environmental issues
• (E) Takes advantage of incentives and financing options made
available by the city of Toronto and province of Ontario.

3. The Strategy
• Started with a strong team!
• Financial
• (49%) 20yr Interest free loan (Toronto Green Energy Fund)
• (51%) 20yr debentures (5% interest)
• 20yr Feed In-tariff contract 24.6 Kw @ 71.3¢/kwh
• Generates approx. $20000/year
• Cost approx. $13000/year
• Communication
• Town hall meetings with congregation
• Promotion
• Make a 2-page brochure to describe the initiative
• Challenge: tight time frame from mid Nov. – mid Jan.
• Solution: Internet!
• Leverage social networks of team members: Green party/NDP; green associations, etc.
• Viral email campaign leading back to website
• Also: newsletters, Facebook, word-of-mouth, flyering local neighbourhood, newspaper/radio
• Become OSEA member
• Legal

4. The Results
• We obtained the support of the 120 member congregation and
35% of investors are from this group.
• We were inundated with requests to invest from people all
over Toronto and other areas of Southern Ontario.
• Had to turn people away
• A truly broad-based effort, we have 56 investors with investments
ranging from $1000 to $10000.
• Unlike traditional fundraising where 80% of funding comes from 20% of donors
• We have gotten queries from many organizations wanting to
do the same and we have shared our materials and lessons
learned with them

5. Lessons Learned
• Key success factors
• A strong team passionate about the cause
• Gov’t financial programs
• Debenture strategy
• vs.co-operative models
• have more complex requirements such as the formation of a corporation and place the
responsibilities and risks of joint ownership on the participants.
• debenture model is a more "light-weight" approach to participation that allows the community
to support and benefit from a green initiative without a large commitment.
• Committed congregation
• OSEA membership
• Good relationship with a contractor
• Things to consider
• Working with Gov’t takes time!
• Use your social networks
• Don’t forget other costs:
• E.g. tree trimming, permits, insurance, legal, postage, issuing T5 slips, etc.

6. Debenture Sales
140
Chronology 120
100
Aug. • Green$aver report 80
2008
60
May • Get quote from SolarGrid
2009
40
Aug. • Apply for city loan 20
9
0
Nov. • Finalize brochure Nov. Dec. 9 Dec. 14 Dec. Jan. 6 Jan. 12 Jan. 14
18
20 26
Nov. • Finalize debenture contract
19
Dec. • Verbal confirmation of city loan for $107K
14
Dec. • Story about project on World-at-Six
23
Jan. • Informal confirmation of OPA contract (20kw)
20
Mar. • Construction phase begins (preliminary)
26
Apr. • OPA approval for remaining 4.6kw
16
May • Start of installation
10
June • System goes live
15

7. THANK YOU!
Questions…