Intangible assets other than goodwill |
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| Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill) [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intangible assets other than goodwill |
Intangible Assets and Liabilities Other Than Goodwill
The Company capitalized $61,053 and $30,035 of product certification costs during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Also included in intangible assets are the costs incurred by the Company to acquire certain patents. These patents, once in service, will be amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated economic life of the associated product, which range from approximately 7-10 years. The Company capitalized $181,637 and $77,240 of patent-related costs during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company capitalized $2,375 and $12,390 in trademarks during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Intangible assets and liabilities at December 31, 2017 and 2016 consist of the following:
The aggregate amortization expense related to intangible assets exclusive of contract related intangibles was $99,310 and $98,310 during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The net credit to cost of sales related to the amortization of the contract related intangible asset and liability for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 was $526,719 and $0, respectively.
Contract Asset and Liability
The favorable contract asset and unfavorable contract liability in the foregoing table represent the fair value of ADGE's customer contracts (both positive for favorable contracts and negative for unfavorable contracts) which were acquired by the Company on May 18, 2017 (see Note 4. "Acquisition of American DG Energy Inc."). These contracts are long-term and provide customers with an alternative source of electrical power in addition to that provided by the local power utility, at rates that are lower than local utilities. This alternative electrical power is typically produced by ADGE owned, operated and maintained natural gas powered systems installed at the customers' sites, with ADGE bearing all costs of operation and maintenance. In addition to the alternative source of electrical power provided by ADGE’s systems, customers can opt to add and take advantage of the heat generated in the electrical production process in the form of hot water and/or space heating. Pricing to the customer for electrical power produced and supplied by ADGE under the contracts is under a fixed formula which requires the customer to pay for the kilowatts of electrical power provided at a fixed percentage discount to the local utility’s electric rate for that period. As a result, as utility rates for electrical power change, the amount ADGE is able to charge the customer under the contract also changes. There has been a sharp decrease in electric rates over the past several years, subsequent to the vast majority of customer contract dates, causing the billable value of the electrical power generated by ADGE’s systems to decrease, resulting in a deterioration of expected profitability. As of the date of acquisition, utility electric rates were significantly below the level anticipated at the time the fixed percentage discounts contained in the vast majority of ADGE’s customer contracts were contracted for, thus these contract terms, although they produce cash flow, were considered to be off market in the vast majority of ADGE’s customer contracts. Additionally, the demand and volume of kilowatts produced and billed for vary by contract and by period and in certain instances have been significantly below what was originally expected such that had it been known at the time the contract(s) were negotiated, it would have influenced ADGE’s determination of the level of the fixed percentage discount in those contracts.
The determination of fair value requires development of an estimate of the price at which an orderly transaction to sell the asset or to transfer the liability would take place between market participants at the measurement date under current market conditions. Contracts are considered to be assets or liabilities by virtue of the rights and obligations inherent in the contract terms. Typically, contracts with terms considered to be at market are considered to have no fair value because in order to be entitled to the rights under the contract performance must occur for which a market rate of return is earned due to the at market terms. The fair value of a contract is primarily a measurement of its off market terms. The obligation to perform under a contract with terms that are unfavorable to market results in a liability to the extent its terms are off market. The resulting liability is an estimate of the price that would need to be paid to a willing market participant to assume the obligations under the contract in order for them to receive a market rate of return for their remaining performance obligation under the contract. The exact opposite holds true in instances where the terms of a contract are considered to be favorable to market. In that case an asset would exist as an estimate of the price that would be received from a willing market participant in order to be entitled to the rights under the contract.
In determining the estimate of fair value of ADGE’s customer contracts, the measure of market, and thus the baseline to measure the amount related to any of the off market terms or conditions with respect to the contracts, was considered best determined, given the nature of the services provided under the contracts, by utilizing a benchmark level of profit margin, in this case 35% of revenue which is consistent with the average return on revenue of US investor owned public utilities.
Amortization of intangibles including contract related amounts is calculated using the straight line method over the remaining useful life or contract term and charged against cost of sales in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. Aggregate future amortization over the next five years is estimated to be as follows:
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