Oasis Montana Fall 2006
Newsletter
page 1 - PV System Incentives
YOUR OWN PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV)
SYSTEM:
Chris and I have been working in the solar business for
quite a while now and we’ll be the first to tell you that
installing a photovoltaic (PV) power system isn’t cheap.
While many people would like to purchase and install a PV
system, the large up-front cost prevents them from doing so.
Well, we want to let you know that there are many federal,
state & utility incentives (rebates, tax credits, grants,
etc.) available for purchasing & installing residential or
commercial PV systems. On the federal level there is
currently an income tax credit for 2006 & 2007 of up to 30%
of the installed cost of a PV system with a maximum credit
of $2,000 per year. This can reduce your out of pocket
expense by $4,000 on a system that initially costs $13,334
or more. In the chart below we have listed the states that
offer rebates for installing residential PV systems along
with a brief description of the rebate amount. Most of the
rebates offered are on a dollar-per-watt ($/W) basis or a
percentage of the installed system cost with a ceiling on
the maximum rebate amount. Even though our home state of
Montana doesn’t offer a rebate for PV systems, we put it in
the chart to show our Montana customers how sad our state’s
incentives are compared to others that really encourage
renewable energy (Governor Schweitzer, are you listening?).
There are many more incentives for wind power, energy
efficiency & commercial applications than we have room to
list here. You can see details on all of the current federal
& state incentives available by visiting the web site for
the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (www.dsireusa.org)
and clicking on your state or the federal link. A renewable
energy system can reduce your monthly electric bill and/or
provide power during a utility outage or at a remote site,
but only if you install one. We hope this incentive
information gets you motivated to take that first step
towards energy independence or to speak with your state &
local representatives about improving the incentives offered
for installing renewable energy systems in your state. It’s
easy to get overwhelmed when you look at energy consumption
and pollution levels on a national or global scale, but the
installation of every solar or wind power system reduces
those levels just a little bit, and they can be added to
incrementally. (for
more information e-mail: dan@oasismontana.com).
|
|
State |
State |
State |
State |
Utility |
Utility |
Utility |
|
|
Rebate |
Grant* |
Income tax credit |
Sales tax exemption |
Rebate |
Grant |
PC** |
|
CA |
$2.60/W up to 30 kW $2.50/W for 30 kW+ |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
|
DE |
50% up to $22,500 |
Y, C |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
|
FL |
$4/W up to $20,000 |
Y, C |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
|
IL |
30% up to $10,000 |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
|
ME |
$3/W up to $7,000*** |
Y, NP |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
|
MA |
$2/W up to $7,000 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
|
MN |
$2/W up to $20,000 |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
|
MT |
|
N |
Y |
N |
N |
Y? |
N |
|
NV |
$3/W up to $15,000 |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
|
NJ |
$3.80/W up to 10 kW |
Y, C |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
|
NY |
$4-$4.50/W to 50 kW |
Y, C |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
|
OR |
$2-$2.25/W up to $10k |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
|
VT |
$1.75/W up to $8,750 |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
|
WI |
25% up to $35,000 |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
|
WY |
50% up to $3,000 |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
*C=Commercial & NP=Non-Profit **PC=Production Credit ***All of Maine’s available rebate funds have been allocated through 12/31/08.
?Northwestern Energy’s USB grant program is up in the air.
|
