How to find out about current solar rebates in your state

Published on April 23, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Buying Solar, Los Angeles Solar, solar incentives.

Photo: Flckr/BradleyOlin

Solar is becoming a lot more popular in a lot of states. Unfortunately, our crack staff of solar geeks analysts are overwhelmed by all of the new rebate news that comes out every week. We just can’t update the state  pages fast enough.

So, we’re going to give you all a place where you can go to always check out what’s new in your city, state, or utility, and then plug in the numbers of the examples that we give.

Of course,  the fastest way is to check out your solar costs is through our solar group purchasing partner, One Block off the Grid’s (1bog’s) solar online estimate tool.  It’s accurate and easy to use. The problem is that 1bog isn’t in every city and state–yet.  So, now you’re looking for guidance about what rebates and incentives apply to you in a non 1bog city.

First of all, know that everyone is entitled to the 30% Federal Tax Credit, no matter what city or state you live in.  Read more about how to calculate that 30% tax credit here.  It’s a little confusing, but we tried our best to explain it all.

Now, in addition to the 30% tax credit, you also may receive a state rebate, a city rebate, and or a utility rebate. Usually, it’s just one of those three, but sometimes you can get a utility rebate and the state rebate.

Unlike tax credits, the good thing about rebates is that they automatically reduce your upfront costs, which means you have to take out a smaller home equity loan. There’s also the matter of Renewable Energy Credits or “RECs” or “S-RECS.” These puppies are worth a lot in states like New Jersey, but their value is different in every state.

Now, as to finding out exactly what rebates and other incentives you’re entitled to, you need to know not only your state, but sometimes your utility. Then go to this  government sponsored website where you can look up the current rebates offered in every state and utility. They have a huge staff, so they’re almost always up to date.

Unfortunately, this database of incentives cannot tell you about the value of your state’s REC program. These can change from month to month, depending on your state, although sometimes the value is fixed for a certain time.

However, knowing the incentives offered is only half the battle. For example, you might discover that Los Angeles is offering a $3/watt rebate right now, but how much does that mean for you? Well, if your installer estimates that you need a 4000 watt system to cover all your electric needs, that’s $12,000 off your cost.

Seems simple, but the problem is that you have to know how many solar panels you need in order to determine your actual rebate. Besides your electric usage, there are also certain local policies, such as time of use, tiered rates, and net metering that can also reduce the number of solar panels that you need.

We won’t get into system sizing here.  The point here is that if you want the latest information about rebates and incentives in your area, you can always check out the above site, or …. just get a free quote from an installer, who keeps up with the latest subsidies in your area. It’s free, so the only thing you have to lose is a bit of time. Worst case, you’ll learn a lot from a pro be able to benchmark your solar costs for a future quote.

Solar PV Addict Gives Tips for Checking out Qualified Solar Installers

Published on April 20, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Solar Installation Stuff, solar sales.

The following post is from Heather Andrews Bias, a Nevada solar installer, solar installation instructor, and self-professed “PV addict.” In short, Heather loves solar as much as Solar Fred, perhaps even more. As a solar instructor and member in good standing with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (local #357, Las Vegas), she knows solar right from solar wrong, and she knows what to look for in a quality solar installer. Heather recently told me about an experience with a friend, and so I asked her to repeat that story and give her personal inside tips for checking out a qualified solar installer.  Heather writes:

Recently, I met with Nick, a potential consumer looking to go green by having a PV array installed on his roof. I wasn’t looking for a sale; rather, Nick’s a friend who asked that I help him decipher the bids he was given so that he could make the right choice. I looked over each bid intently, questioned a few things, and did some extensive research.

• Of seven bids, three of the contractors were not properly licensed to connect his array to the utility grid, meaning that Nick would be required to hire an electrician at additional cost to do so in order to pass inspection. This was not disclosed to him.
• Another contractor was not approved by the utility to apply for state rebates (also not disclosed), while yet another told Nick that if the utility lost power, he would still have power to his house if the sun was up, even without a battery backup. In reality, grid-tied solar without a back-up will not protect you from a black out. The reason is to protect utility workers fixing the electrical lines.
• Of the final three bids, the prices differed wildly by over $15,000, and only one contractor performed a solar site survey after meeting with Nick. A proper site survey is needed to determine shading, the condition of your home’s electrical system, and other important issues for designing a safe and efficient solar installation.
• On behalf of Nick, I called these contractors and asked if their installers held the Nevada OSHA photovoltaic installer’s license, a requirement for anyone performing an installation in Nevada. Three of the seven contractors were under the impression that only the lead installer was required to have this license, though Nevada’s Revised Statutes clearly dictate otherwise.

Unfortunately, Nick’s experience is not unique. With solar quickly becoming en vogue and many home contractors looking to cash in, I’m finding that many small installers have little or no electrical background, zero hands-on training before their first professional installation, and in some cases, less than 10 hours of instruction before they’re sent out to put together a rooftop power generating system.

I strongly feel that solar should be installed by licensed electricians. A solar array (whether residential or commercial) is a major investment, and such things should be taken seriously. 600 volts coming out of a typical solar array is no joke, and it takes both knowledge and skill to work with it safely.

Solar installers and contractors have an obligation to be ethical in their business practices, and that includes proper licensing, extensive training, and honest consumer education.

Dirt-Cheap Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Solar Costs through Energy Efficiency.

Published on April 14, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Affordable Solar, Buying Solar, energy efficiency.

NOT Energy Efficient (Photo: Flickr/egodfrey13)

Solar Fred loves solar and women and beer but he’s also not one to waste beer a nickel on his utility bill, even for important things like keeping his beer vegetables chilled in the fridge.

So I’m naturally prone to being very cheap energy efficient, and if you’re thinking about going solar, you should be equally concerned about the cost of chilling your veggies and such. The fact is that the more energy efficient your home is, the cheaper it is for you to go solar.

This isn’t a new concept that I made up in drunken stupor. In fact, if you’re going to take advantage of San Francisco’s new PACE program, you’re required to get an energy audit and improve your energy efficiency first before going solar. Our solar partner 1bog.org makes this process cheap and easy so very simple with a generous 15% group discount.

But even without getting an official energy audit, there are plenty of dirt-cheap things you can do to reduce your dirty, coal-fired 19th century, polluting utility bill and at the same time reduce your solar cost by reducing your need to a smaller size solar system.

Allow me to list some dirt-cheap ways that you can be more energy efficient.

Shut off the lights. I know this sounds so easy, but there’s a reason your father was always yelling at you to turn off those lights when you’re not in the room. You have a lot of light bulbs. Keeping them on when no one’s using them is wasting tons of power and money that you could be spending on more beer important things.

Change those lights to CFLs. Tommy Edison’s 19^th century incandescent light bulbs waste 6 times as much power as CFLs and even more compared to LED bulbs. Count how many incandescent bulbs you have in your house, especially those outdoor flood lights that are on all night. Now think about 6 times. Six times the money you’re wasting lighting up the bushes. At least use CFL flood lights. Over the course of the year, it’s just nuts to waste that much in alcohol and date money household expenses.

Your old refrigerator sucks power. Refrigerators serve an important role in keeping your vegetables and vodka and frozen pizza other nutritious substances chilled and preserved. But they suck power like Solar Fred downs martinis water on a hot summer day. Buy a new Energy Star refrigerator. Many states have rebate programs to encourage you to get a new fridge. Use them.

Other Fridge Power Saving Tips. Your fridge works hard to keep your frozen dinners food chilled, but every time you open the door and think about what to reheat for dinner, you’re making it work harder and thus use more power to keep the fridge cold. So don’t stare. Get what you need and shut the door. Also, if possible, move the fridge away from anything that emits heat, like your stove, dryer, or dishwasher. Use a vacuum cleaner for once every 6 months to clear off the dust from the coils in the back of your fridge and under your unused exercise machines. Do the same for the lint in the back of your dryer. All of these things make those machines draw more power to do what they have to do.

Retire your dryer. That’s right. If you want to save tons of cash, especially if you have an electric dryer, start air -drying your clothes on a clothes line. Your clothes will last longer also, and of course, you’ll have some fresh air once a month week.

Put your electronics on a power strip. You charge your cell phone, your blue tooth, and all of these other devices at night. Fine. But before you leave during the day, pull those plugs or put them all on a power strip and shut that puppy off. Because those things are still bleeding cash out of your utility bill while you’re at work. Same for your television, your Wii, your desktop computer, and whatever other battery charged naughtiness feel-good exercise equipment you have charging under the bed.

Bottom line: Save more money for beer and drinking responsibly with energy efficiency and then go solar. Wonder how much it might cost to go solar? Benchmark yourself and get a quote.

Is Solar Finally Affordable in 2010? In Many States, Yes.

Published on April 7, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: 1bog, Los Angeles Solar, New Jersey, Solar Financing, Solar Lease, colorado, san francisco.

Photo: Flickr/Jurveston

Is solar finally affordable in 2010? In many states, I think the answer is yes, and it’s not just for the rich eco-minded elites either. That may have been the case before 2009, but many factors have finally made solar affordable for middle class budgets across the U.S.

First, before we get into the nitty-gritty numbers,  let me just make a few observations of what has changed in the last two years to make solar affordable in many states:

• The Federal 30% Tax Credit. Previous to 2009, that tax credit was capped for residents at $2000. Not any more. Now you get the full 30% off the installed cost of your solar system, calculated after any state or utility rebates.
• Solar panel prices have plummeted. There’s nothing like a recession to make demand lower and force panel companies to compete by reducing prices. In just a year, panel prices have dropped 50% and are still inching lower. Labor, however, hasn’t dropped, so there is a floor.
• The growth of innovative financing options. Let’s be clear here: Buying is always more cost effective than leasing in the long term, but buying means getting a home loan to pay for it up front. HOWEVER, residential solar leases and solar PPA’s do allow you to go solar for very little up front money, so you will save some money—just not as much money as buying through a home equity loan or PACE program (see below). So, get a quote for buying and leasing if you want and compare. Either way, you’ll see it’s affordable.
• PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy). These programs did not exist until just recently. They’re growing in cities everywhere now. Here’s an example of the San Francisco program. Bottom line, a great way to finance your system, and if you move before 20 years, by law, the new home owner takes over the payments, so you can move free and clear of any residual loan value, and the new buyer can benefit from the solar and pay the remaining loan.
• The growth of SRECs. New Jersey is the poster child of why solar is now affordable, and a large part is due to the Solar Renewable Energy Credit market there. Read about a New Jersey example here. These markets are growing in every state.
• The expansion of net metering. Many—but not all—states now have net metering. With this system, if your solar panels produce extra solar power during the day, the utility is required to credit you back that power at night. In some areas, they’ll even pay you for the extra power if your panels produced more “net” energy at the end of the year.

Okay, so that’s the broad strokes of why solar is affordable in 2010. What about the numbers? Numbers are really difficult to apply to everyone, and I’ve written why before. Read this post, and realize that what you pay is going to be more or less than your neighbor or a person in another state. Wish there were one policy and one price for solar, but that’s just not the case.

With that mind, let’s go through some example prices and payback time for a $100 average monthly electric bill and a net price of around $12,000 or less. Keep in mind that these are pre-negotiated, no-haggle, group purchasing prices through our partners at 1bog.org.

As I said, pretty much affordable when you take into consideration all of the incentives. Now, you will pay more money up front, that’s true, but it does pay off fairly quickly, and I didn’t even mention the increase in home value and other income tax benefits. Plus, solar systems last for 25 years, or longer, so free electricity after only 3.4 years in the case of Northern New Jersey.

Curious about the numbers for your home? Do what I did and use 1bog’s free estimation calculator. If the numbers don’t pencil out this year, then write down the numbers to benchmark yourself and try again next year.