Commercial Project

Solar for Dhammakaya Meditation Center in Morgan Hill, CA

The Mediation Center was looking to reduce their operating cost and provide long-term value to the center.

Project Details

Objectives

The Mediation Center was looking to reduce their operating cost and provide long-term value to the center. As a meditation center, they wanted to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, and help contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing their carbon emissions. Since the meditation center just got a brand new roof, they wanted to hire a local company that was proficient in both solar and roofing.

About the Client

DMCSV or Dhammakaya Meditation Center Silicon Valley is a non-profit 501 (C) (3) organization. They began meeting in 2010 to help people learn to journey inward to find true happiness.
They promote meditation, peace, spiritual awareness, and harmony to humankind. The meditation sessions are conducted by Dhammakaya practitioners who have dedicated themselves to teaching meditation and dhamma (the reality of life) to restore tranquility to the world through inner peace.

Challenges

Since the mediation center is a small non profit, financing was key. The system size was very small so providing a cash flow positive scenario with 100% financing is very difficult.

Simmitri’s Solution

Ultimately, the best solution was Simmitri’s 25 year loan and leveraging the “Direct Pay’s” Inflation Reduction Act program. Typically nonprofits can not directly take advantage of the Federal tax incentive, however with the new “Direct Pay” program, they can. The Direct Pay IRA solar program, part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), allows tax-exempt entities like nonprofits, municipalities, and state agencies to receive direct payments from the IRS for qualified clean energy projects. This means they can claim clean energy tax credits as a refund, effectively offsetting project costs.