Automotive News - October 21, 2013 - Supplement - S35

OCTOBER 21, 2013 ❙ 35

PA L M S P R I N G S M O T O R S , C AT H E D R A L C I T Y, C A L I F.

For desert dealer, tax breaks, rebate
build a business case for sun power
Printed in Automotive News June 3, 2013
Bradford Wernle
bwernle@crain.com

n balmy Palm Springs, Calif., the desert
sun shines an average of 350 days a year.
So converting an auto dealership to solar
energy might seem to be a no-brainer.
But Paul Thiel studied the economics of
solar power for seven years before he took
the leap and converted his Palm Springs Motors, a Ford-Lincoln store in Cathedral City,
Calif. For a long time, he couldn't make the
numbers work.
"We started studying it in 2005. The price
of the solar system was too high," Thiel says.
"It didn't justify to where you could make it
pencil, where it would
pay off in a reasonable
amount of time. The payback would have been 10
to 12 years."
Waiting paid off in a big
way for Thiel, 61, a South
Dakota
native
who
worked for Ford as a general field manager before buying his dealership in 2000. He estimates the system cost 60
percent less than it would have seven years
ago because of a combination of factors: a
$220,000 Southern California Edison rebate,
a $600,000 federal energy tax credit and 50
percent bonus depreciation that reduces the
dealership's tax bill.
The result: After the less than five years it
takes Thiel to pay off the $2 million system, his
Southern California Edison electric bill will
mostly disappear. Thiel's average monthly
electric bill is $15,000 but goes as high as
$30,000 during summer, when the temperature sometimes soars above 120 degrees.
The system began operating in December
after five months of construction.
The benefits of converting to solar power
go beyond monetary savings. Those 3,000
solar panels, which take up 50,000 square
feet, serve as a giant billboard for the dealership's green credentials, boosting Palm
Springs Motors' image in the community.
"It's a big deal. We get positive press from
it. Everybody who lives in the desert has suffered through these rolling brownouts where

Solar panels at Palm Springs Motors, above, not only gather energy that helps reduce the
dealership's operating costs but also provide shade for many vehicles in the lot and act as a
giant billboard to tout the store's green credentials. Dealer Paul Thiel, left, says: "We're
amazed that almost daily we get positive comments from the public."
the air conditioning shuts down," Thiel says.
"By taking enough power off the grid, we're
going to reduce the number of times they
have to do this.
"If I had it to do over again, I probably would
have tried to place the panels across the front
of the dealership because they would have
been more visible. We're amazed that almost
daily we get positive comments from the public. They're happy to see a business that cares
about rolling brownouts."
The brownouts are power outages that occur mostly during the peak of summer when
electricity use soars and utilities are forced to
shut off power for short intervals.
Several years ago, Palm Springs Motors installed a backup generator to keep the power
running during brownouts.
The dealership sells an average of 130 new
and 70 used cars each month and has 120
employees.
It still draws power from Southern California Edison, but the store's solar panels generate about 1.1 million kilowatt hours of
power annually for the power grid.
That's enough electricity to power 40

homes for a year. Over the system's 20-plusyear life, it will prevent 23,402 tons of carbon
dioxide from being pumped into the air.
That's the equivalent of removing 3,989 cars
from the road. The estimates come from the
utility company and LaSalle Solar Systems of
Cathedral City, which installed the system.
The system has other benefits. The panels
stand 14 feet high and provide shade for cars
on the lot. Temperatures inside those vehicles can reach 160 degrees on the hottest
summer days.
The success of the solar system has encouraged Thiel to study other green steps.
"When we remodel our facility for Ford's
Trustmark [design standards], we're going to
enhance the insulation on the roof and walls
to make it easier to cool. We're going to put
in solar tubes for lighting. That saves electricity and shows the cars better. Every area
we possibly can, we'll do it."
Thiel couldn't be happier with the system
at Palm Springs Motors.
"Whether you believe in global warming or
not, we're still helping the environment.
What's wrong with that?" c

Automotive News - October 21, 2013 - Supplement

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