San Diego, Calif. In the United States, community solar is a growing phenomenon. Those who live in an apartment or dont have suitable roofs or land are able to invest in, and benefit from, a larger project. In Japan, investing in a PV with Lot is becoming popular among individuals who dont own land and wish to generate extra income from the nations feed-in tariff (FIT).

PV with Lot projects are popping up everywhere and individual investors can pick any site, independent from the location of their primary residency. This is similar to solar securitization and solar crowdfunding as an individual investment tool for solar, but it is different because individuals have actual ownership over solar projects.

Photo of 324-kW ground-mount system by Nippon Ecosystem

Project developers market PV with Lot investment to individuals such as retirees seeking supplement income and large saving account-holders looking for a high-yield investment. Expected return on investment (ROI) from a PV with Lot ranges from 8 percent to 10 percent, and homeowners can receive a better ROI on a PV with Lot than PV on their own roofs.

When homeowners install solar systems on their rooftops, they receive a FIT rate of 38/kWh only on excess generated electricity for 10 years. Those who invest in a PV with Lot, however, can receive the same rate on all electricity generated for 20 years.

Hitting the Sweet Spot

PV with Lot investments are ideal for systems sized below 50 kW. Under the current national regulations, PV systems sized under 50 kW are connected to low-voltage distribution lines while systems sized between 50 kW and 2 MW are connected to high-voltage distribution lines. A fast-track, or simplified, interconnection process is available for systems no larger than 50 kW, providing minimum time required for an interconnection to be reviewed and approved.

The short project development time is very beneficial for both developers and customers (investors), said Hiromi Ishihara of Asglad Communications, a solar project and real estate developer.

Besides the processing time, interconnecting systems below 50 kW cost significantly less than larger systems. According to one large project developer, it only costs 600,000-700,000 ($5,800-$6,800) to interconnect solar systems to low-voltage distribution lines, compared to 2.4 million ($23,350) for high-voltage distribution lines.

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PV with Lot Sales: A New Form of Personal Investment in Japan

If listening to loud music, playing in the school band, or even mowing the lawn is part of your kids normal routine, parents may want to tune into their childs hearing ability.

While infants and childrens hearing are closely examined during the language development years, Dr. Judy Rasin, a licensed audiologist with McGuires hearing services, said hearing loss may not always be on a pediatricians mind while conducting a teens checkup.

Because hearing loss is an invisible condition, parents can only be vigilant and watch out for its signs and symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, simple signs in teens include turning up the volume too high while watching television and frequent replies of huh? or what? when others speak to them.

While these signs may be characteristic of almost any teen during their coming-of-age years, parents can also keep an eye on how long and how often their children use their music devices and at what volume.

Pressure from sound waves can damage the hair cells in the ear, which sense vibration and sends signals to the brain. Sound causes part of the hair cell to rock back and forth but if a sound is too loud, the hair cell can be bent or broken. And once its broken, theres no growing a new one, according to the nonprofit Dangerous Decibels, which educates children about hearing loss. Susceptibility to hearing loss is nearly double among 12- to 19-year-olds who are also exposed to second-hand smoke, according to a 2011 New York University study.

That type of damage can be caused by a one-time exposure to loud sounds or by repeated exposure over time to sounds of various intensities, such as those that come through earphones, Dr. Rasin said.

If the earphones dont fit correctly, teens have a tendency to crank up the volume so they can hear it above all the other environmental sounds, she said.

The idea is not to crank them up to dangerous levels, Dr. Rasin said, even if it doesnt sound uncomfortable to them.

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Health: Tune in to your teenagers hearing

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The Suffolk Times launched a website redesign more than a year in the making this weekend. The new-look site aims to improve the reader experience and provide our advertising partners with exciting new opportunities. A growing number of readers view our sites on smartphones or tablet devices close to 40 percent of our traffic []

If listening to loud music, playing in the school band, or even mowing the lawn is part of your kids normal routine, parents may want to tune into their childs hearing ability. While infants and childrens hearing are closely examined during the language development years, Dr. Judy Rasin, a licensed audiologist with McGuires hearing services, []

Two musicians. Twenty eight vendors. Hundreds of attendees. And at least a few thousand dollars worth in transactions. So went the debut of the Riverhead Farmers Market on Saturday on East Main Street, in the 8,000-square-foot building downtown that previously housed Swezeys department store. Less than 90 minutes into the four-hour pop-up market the []

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Week in Review: Mayor apologizes, fireboat and deer

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Im far from the greed and emotion of Wall Street and able to conduct the kind of independent thinking that keeps us ahead of the pack, not chasing it. I love my job and consider it a stewardship of other peoples hard-earned money. I want to do this the rest of my life.

-Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio)

Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) is one of the favored gurus followed by GuruFocus. He is the president and chief executive officer at Auxier Asset Management and is in charge of the Auxier Focus Fund. The fund manager comes to the industry with 30 years of experience and in that time has mustered up quite a track record as well as insight into nearly every market bump or bubble.

Biography and Career

According Auxier Assets website,Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) got his start in finance at the early age of 11, when he had a job mowing the long-time Georgia Pacific CEO Robert Pamplins lawn. He learned quite a bit from the CEO including what he considers to be a very important factor to running a business: Mr. Pamplin always put his shareholders first and believed business should be transparent. Moving on from these early years Auxier went on to graduate from the University of Oregon with a degree in Finance and an emphasis in accounting, and from then on Auxier went on working towards making connections with financial savants such as Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio).

Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) began his professional career in 1982 at Foster Marshall-American Express, or what is now known as Smith Barney, in Portland. Because of his connections and ties to Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) and the likes, Auxier really connected with and made sense of Value Investing, so in the late 80s he assisted his company in creating the Portfolio Management Advisory Board which created policies that were aimed at better serving client and shareholder interests.

It was in 1998 when Auxier realized what he actually wanted to do for a living. The guru left Smith Barney to start his own investment fund, Auxier Asset Management, and not long after he began the Auxier Focus Fund. Auxier says that he wanted to start a fund where the manager is held highly accountable, so he put his money where his mouth is and remains one of the Auxier Focus Funds largest shareholders. Jeff owns over 166,000 shares of this fund, the entirety of his personal retirement fund, and he promised not to sell a single share until he is no longer manager. Not only is his money tied up in the fund but his familys assets are also included in the money management portion of Auxier Asset Management, and not only that but members of the Auxier Asset Management team also maintain large percentages of their own net worth locked up in the Focus Fund.

Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) and his family live rather far away from the hustle of Wall St., maintaining a large farm on the outskirts of Portland as well as massive ranch in the high desert of Central Oregon.

Auxier Asset Management

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Living Water finds newhome

Living Water Lawn and Tree Care, which has been in business in Spokane for more than two decades, is relocating to a larger office at 8227 N. RegalAve.

Company CEO Paul Brown said the expansion will include new partners, Ron and Carol Davis, and a new business name: Living Water LandscapeServices.

The company is taking over 3,600 square feet of space inside a renovated north Spokane commercialbuilding.

The business provides pruning, mowing, landscaping, sprinkler maintenance and installing for residential and commercialcustomers.

GaryKusterof WindermereCommercial and GuyD.Byrd

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Living Water Lawn and Tree Care, which has been in business in Spokane for more than two decades, is relocating to a larger office at 8227 N. RegalAve.

Company CEO Paul Brown said the expansion will include new partners, Ron and Carol Davis, and a new business name: Living Water LandscapeServices.

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The Dirt - Sun, 26 Jan 2014 PST

If you are a retiree who owns a home, at some point the idea of making a move may cross your mind. Perhaps the children are grown and on their own, and the size of the home no longer fits your needs. Perhaps mowing the lawn is no longer a pleasure, the home takes too much effort to keep up, and simple tasks like cleaning out gutters or even changing ceiling light bulbs aren't as easy as they used to be.

Or, you may be concerned about your current health or mobility status, or you might be worried about the future.

Potential injuries become a real concern as one ages. According to "A Profile of Housing and Health Among Older Americans," a Research Institute for Housing America report, 36 percent of older individuals have fallen in the past two years, and one-third of these have been seriously injured in a fall.

If a house is difficult to navigate, the likelihood of falls occurring rises steeply.

Couples' decisions to move are often driven by the frailest member, according to the RIHA report.

Children may become concerned about the welfare of their parents as they age, and rightly so. If parents lose their ability to perform self-care activities, they tend to move closer to their children, as well as those who are widowed, according to a Research on Aging article, "Moving Considerations: A Longitudinal Analysis of Parent-Child Residential Proximity for Older Americans."

There can be financial reasons for making a move as well.

Scaling down to a smaller, less-costly alternative just may be prudent.

Most Americans 65 or older (66 percent) who plan to move will move to a smaller house, according to the Demand Institute's May 2012 study, "The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand."

Twenty-six percent plan to move to a home of the same size, and only 8 percent plan to move to a larger house.

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Julie Jason:: Before moving, consider finances and logistics