Indiana Solar Panels: Rebates and Incentives
Downtown Indianapolis
2012 Indiana Solar Power Update
When we last check in with the Hoosier State, the future did not seem all that bright for solar power here. We’re happy to report that the legislature has started to make progress. The implementation of an RPS — even an optional RPS — is a solid start toward strong solar policy. There is, however, a great deal of work left to be done, and legislators are missing easy opportunities for big gains for Indiana solar panels. Let’s take a look at where solar policy here is strong, and where it still needs to be improved.
Indiana’s Renewable Portfolio Standard
A Renewables Portfolio Standard is a law or other piece of regulation that mandates that a certain percentage of at state’s energy production comes from renewable resources by specified target dates. A strong RPS is the backbone of strong solar policy and almost always motivates the utilities incentivizing small-scale renewable energy like residential solar panel systems.
Indiana unfortunately lacks a true RPS, but legislators have recently started at least moving in the right direction. In May 2011 Indiana passed the Comprehensive Hoosier Option to Incentivize Cleaner Energy (“CHOICE”) program. CHOICE sets a voluntary goal of 10% clean energy by 2025 (based on 2010 production levels). Utilities that elect to participate in CHOICE are eligible to receive incentives from the state to help pay for the cost of CHOICE-compliant projects like Indiana solar panels.
The program launched in January 2012. No reports on utilities opting into the program or their progress have been reported as of yet. Utilities that do opt in are expected to meet the CHOICE goals in 3 stages: an average of 4% qualifying clean energy between 2013 and 2018; 7% between 2019 and 2024; and finally 10% by 2025.
Indiana Solar Panel Performance Payments
Performance payments are limited for Indiana solar panels. In fact, only customers of two utilities are eligible: Northern Indiana Public Service Corporation (“NIPSCO”) and Indianapolis Power & Light (“IP&L”).
NIPSCO offers a feed-in tariff of $0.30/kilowatt-hour (“kwh”) of solar energy produced. Unlike a lot of other feed-in tariffs we’ve seen, NIPSCO also allows you to hold back up to 1 MW of energy for on-site use (i.e., to power your home), and will still pay you at $0.30/kwh for any surplus.
IP&L also offers a feed-in tariff through its Rate REP program. Rate REP only offers payments starting at a minimum system size of 20kw; while residential systems are eligible, that size requirement probably excludes most single-family homeowners. If you do have a system over 20kw, you are eligible for payments of $0.24/kwh.
Indiana Solar Panel Rebates
Indiana solar panel rebates are extremely limited as well. In fact, in the entire state only IP&L offers a rebate on the installation of a residential solar power system. If you’re an IP&L customer you are eligible for a solar power rebate of $2.00/watt ($2,000/kw). The maximum rebate is $4,000.
Solar Tax Credits in Indiana
There is currently no tax credit for Indiana solar panels. Legislators are missing an easy and essential opportunity to incentivize clean energy. This is especially true given the bleak solar rebate and performance payment pictures.
Indiana Solar Panel Tax Exemptions
Thankfully Indiana does offer tax exemptions to help make solar power even more attractive. First up, you are 100% exempt from all property taxes associated with the increase in home value caused by installing a solar power system (twenty times your annual electricity savings – covered in more detail later). That’s going to save you a pretty nice chunk of change every year. You also are likely exempt from all sales tax (that’s 7% here) on the purchase of your solar power system. We say “likely” because the exemption has not yet been officially determined to cover solar energy production. However, the wording of the statute and the recent ruling determining wind energy production to be eligible both strongly suggest your solar power system qualifies as well. Don’t worry – the solar installers we partner with can take care of all these details for you and make sure you save the most money possible.
Utility Prices in Indiana
Indiana pays an average of 10.71 cents/kwh of electricity. That’s cheap! More than half a cent cheaper than the national average of 11.43 cents/kwh in fact.
Why is energy still so cheap? Only because most of our electricity still comes from burning millions of tons of fossil fuels. The cost of those fossil fuels in dollars and cents may be low (for now), but the environmental costs are astronomically high. Switching to solar power now saves you money (and helps save the planet); when scarcity and environmental costs drive up the monetary costs of fossil-fuel based energy, the early switch to solar power is going to be saving you piles and piles of money. Just remember to thank us.
Indiana Net Metering and Interconnection
Net metering requires your utility to monitor how much energy your solar power system produces and how much energy you actually consume. If you produce a surplus, you get credit for it in payment or bill credits (or both).
Indiana net metering standards call for surplus energy production to be applied as a credit on your next monthly bill. Credits can be carried over indefinitely, but there are no provisions forcing the utility to cut you a check if you continually run a surplus.
Overall we gave net metering in Indiana a B because of system size caps that may prevent larger customers from meeting all of their on-site energy needs, and aggregate circuit capacity limits that may prevent everyone who wants to take advantage of net metering from doing so. That said, net metering is fairly strong for residential customers, and with 40% of current net metering capacity reserved for residential use, you shouldn’t have any problems getting into the program.
Interconnection standards are strong in Indiana as well. Systems under 10kw (i.e. most residential systems) fall into Level 1 of the tiered system. Level 1 systems do not pay any fees for application or interconnection review, and utilities may not specify any additional requirements for you to get onto the grid. The only thing we’d like to see changed for Level 1 standards is a prohibition on the requirement of a redundant external disconnection switch. Currently that requirement is at the utility’s discretion.
5kW Example Return on Investment in Indiana
What do all the numbers add up to for you? Let’s take a look at a typical 5 kilowatt installation in the Indianpolis area.
Installing a typical 5kW solar system should start at about $25,000. Don’t worry, that’s going to come down a lot in year 1.
- First we subtract the solar power rebate available from IP&L straight from the top. Your 5kw system will get the full $4,000 back, dropping your costs to $21,000 already.
- The federal government calculates the 30% federal solar tax credit based on out of pocket costs, i.e. after the IP&L rebate. Subtract $6,300 for a new price of $14,700.
- After the tax credit we subtract your first year’s energy savings, which we estimate to be about $627. That brings your cost to $14,073, a price drop of nearly eleven thousand already.
- With a conservative estimate for the future rise of electricity prices, you can expect your new solar power system to pay for itself in about 15 years. After that you’ll be turning a profit (yes, a profit) for the rest of the life of your solar panels (typically about 25 years). We estimate that profit to be about $16,000 through 2037.
- In addition to all that money directly in your wallet, that new solar power system also increases your home value by $12,531, all of it tax free.
- Not to be forgotten, you’re also pumping out a bunch of green for the environment. Tree green that is. The fossil-fuel energy you’re not using is the carbon-saving equivalent of planting 103 trees a year, every year your solar power system is humming.
These numbers are estimates. Your home is unique and how much power you generate and how much money you save depends on that uniqueness. The best way to find out how much cash switching to solar can save you is to get one of our free quotes, and an expert installer in your area can draw up a home-specific estimate for you. Your quote is 100% free (yes, that’s right, 100% free) and you can get as many of them as that smart shopper in you desires!
Indiana Solar Consensus
Overall things are trending in the right direction here. As we said up front, there is still a lot of work to be done, but progress is progress, even if it’s only minimal. To make more progress, legislators should start with a stronger, mandatory RPS. If you add in a statewide rebate program for Indiana solar panels, that’d really be something. In Indianapolis for instance, even the moderate $4,000 offered by IP&L is enough to bring payback timeframes to a high, but not off-the-charts bad 15 years. A larger state solar power rebate program could instantly improve payback timeframes statewide. Until those or other improvements happen, however, we still have Indiana rated as a “D.”
I am doing a paper on the practicality of harnessing solar power and I need to ask someone some questons can somebody help? send me an email AVahar00@pnc.edu.
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Don’t let this be a measure of the whole state. I recently talked to a gentleman who had the option of either paying $20K for the electric company to run lines to his house or pay $20K for a solar system. Hmm… he went for the solar system. He lives in the West Central part of the state where prices are a bit lower than they are in Indy.
So sad to see our General Assembly not addressing the importance of this issue. They are still in the stone age.
I’m glad to see you offer a (dollar) cost vs. savings, something I’ve not been lucky enough to find on many sites. I’m in Indy and keep wondering whether I should upgrade to solar–if nothing else, solar water heating, but am finding little around online to help me in the decision-making process. With the possibility of the $2000 cap lifted from the 30% federal tax credit, after 25 years, your net cost (based on the numbers you’ve given, what with increase and property value and utility savings) would be about $12,650 instead of $25,500, which is a huge difference for the average homeowner. Are there also Indiana (or Marion County) tax incentives for installing energy-efficient and/or alternative-energy systems in the home? I’m having trouble finding these, but thought I’d seen them when I’ve paid taxes in the past.
I find that the utility companies in Indiana don’t want to see alternitive energy or want you to save by them as to be cutting into the money they make. you can’t even find good energy eficiant water heaters. you should be able to buy one through your utilitys compony and make payments with your electric bill
The two biggest barriers to solar power installation are high upfront cost and long payback period. Without some type of public initiative, solar power will never be successful. To advance solar energy use,Indiana needs to implement a carbon tax. This tax offers the promise of bringing solar energy to the masses.
First and foremost, tax revenues raised by taxing carbon emissions should be used to expand the earned income tax credit to help mitigate the negative impacts of carbon taxes on low-income families. Second, some of the revenues should be used to reduce the upfront cost of solar power installation.
Indiana is overdue for a big step forward in our energy options. A well-designed implementation of a carbon tax will accomplish this goal.
Hi Guys; Here is another incentive for solar power that I did not find in this page analysis….I am not associated with this company,,,just found the website by googling solar energy tax credits….and other companies exist that will accomplish the same goal.
Sol Systems provides an additional revenue stream over the term of the contract to enhance energy and cost savings. For example, a customer could purchase a 4kW system with installation for approximately $40,000. Depending on the location and system-type, the customer could produce approximately 5MW from the system each year. If Sol Systems were to contract with the customer to purchase SRECs for $300 each, the owner would receive an additional $15,000 over a ten year period. (Prices used here are for example purposes only)
http://www.solsystemscompany.com/
Also, the law or regs need to be changed in Indiana to force the electric companies to properly pay for the negative affects of coal plants. No such thing as a clean coal plant and until the coal plants environmental costs are properly charged to the electric companies, you will see a huge upswing on the cost efficiency of solar power.
my first eyeopener to solar was back in the late70′s early 80′s,when my parents bought 2 gigantic bubble type panels, not to affective but impressive for the time..Things are better now in this industry.It is sad to see how backwards Indiana is about solar, recently the star news published an invite to the public to submit what would best be suitable to build on the old MSA site downtown, How about a energy complex producing power and education to the citizens of Indiana. But,I bet they don’t do it. However it is easy to vote in a new stadium,convention center and a 100 million dollar road in Carmel. WTF, get real Indiana..
why not convert all post office vehicles coast to coast to natural gas or propane? they would burn clean, and the engines would last much longer. Next the US Navy has over 60 years experience with Nuclear power and missiles,they can build power generators on the bases,just off shore, for good cooling, as Japan is now doing. marine life likes warm spots, is there a more secure place for nuclear ? the power can be sold to the national power grid. future lasers will need the power.. and we can operate electric cars and trucks sooner. burt
If we want solar (or wind) incentives from the State, we have a lot of work to do. We will need the help of friends, neighbors, and communities to voice their opinions and get active in grassroots organizations.
Indiana is a coal producing state, with coal jobs, and coal fired electric plants. If we wait on the State, it will never happen. The coal lobbyist and big utiliies don’t want it, and they have deep pockets. Have you seen their commercials for “clean coal?” (What a joke!)
I’m new to the dialogue on solar in Indiana. I live in Indy and would be interested in what grass roots organizations already exist that educate or lobby for green energy. Anybody out there that can help
Hopefully Nanosolar will start selling to consumers by the end of 2009. Supposedly they are able to make thinfilm solar for 30 cents per kilowatt and will sell it for $1 per killowatt. If this pans out it could be a game changer for solar power. I’m pretty sure installed solar now costs $8-$10 per kw. The efficiency of the thin film is around 10% but at $1 per kw who cares as you could cover your entire roof with thin film for not very much $. http://www.nanosolar.com There are also some cool youtube videos of the thin film production process.
What a bunch of junk. Come on who are they trying to kid.
Solar Power Rocks.comIndiana??
It should be living in backwardsindiana.com
This is the only state I know of that has a great potential for wind and solarpower but will only bicker about it untill the big money people can get thier hands on it to monapolise it.I would love to go solar but I do not see it being any type cost savings in backwards Indiana before I die
Can anyone tell me what the average homes kwh an hour is in Grant County Indiana?
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You Solar fantasy people just crack me up. You never let physics or reality creep into your minds when your thinking…..Thinking is the wrong word…dreaming is more like it….tell me where are you going to get you electricity from when the sun isn’t shining? Remember we are currently in a HUGE economic mess….taxing people at this time is REDICULOUS!!! Look forward to reading some intelligent responses.
sun electric says payback is at 7 yrs , however a good rigidmounted sollar tracker would nodoubt nock a dent in this
payback period. but from the incentives i see sofar ,i’d just asoon buy the non UL lised panels for less money.?
Lets turn this around on you IronRanger?
Where are you going to get you power from when we run out of coal, oil, gas, places to burry nuclear waste.
I think your mistake in assuming that solar power advocates are claiming that solar power is the ONLY solution. We are only advocating solar as PART of the solution.
I Decided to go Green in Greene co. IN. In the Town of Bloomfield
I Am INstalling almost a kilowatt of solar panels on my shop 20′x 24′ where I do repairs On ATV ,Scooters, Motorcycles ,golf carts, lawn mowers, small engines.
I will operate my lights, Battery chargers, power tools Off the suns power and makes a small dent in my part less carbon footprint . I am tickled Green about And have always wanted to do this since i was a Kid .
It Makes a Difference and i will advertise this to the local news and newspapers and hopefuly “GREEN” will get contagiuos!!
Like Ohio is the Buckeye state, Indiana is the Backward State. Indiana will, as usual, be the last state to adopt solar/alternative energy policy. Only after the majority of other states have done so, will Indiana start to move in that direction.
January 11, 2010
Indiana Legislator Introduces Feed-in Tariff Bill
First Comprehensive Proposal of 2010 in US, Adapts Rates from Ontario for a “Made In Indiana” Policy
by Paul Gipe
Indiana, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
Representative Matt Pierce (D-61st, Bloomington) introduced AB 1190 into the Indiana General Assembly January 7, 2010. The bill is the first comprehensive proposal for a system of feed-in tariffs in the current legislative sessions that have begun in states across the US.
AB 1190 tries to go Ontario one better as competition for renewable energy heats up in North America’s heartland….
[Note: For copyright reasons, we cannot print the entire comment/article. Please see above article on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. The gists is that Indiana is intro-ing a Feed-in-Tariff. It remains to be seen whether it will be passed, given that Indiana is a friendly coal state, but one can hope. ]
Thanks for the heads up, Greg. You rock.
I would like to have the stability of my own power source. The goverment doesn’t want that. Imagine if everyone was self reliant. What would the gov do then? So don’t look for the answers to come from them! There was a storage question in one blog. The answer is simple battery back up! On large scale operations I’ve heard of heating a volume of water. Then they extact the heat and turn that back to electric. It’s all energy and that alone turn the modern world.
I looked into many options when I built my home two years ago. Insulated concrete form (ICF), solar, wind, etc. I eventually went with geo-thermal and a blown cellulose insulation with a glue to prevent settling. It was the least expensive and provided the best return I could find. The answer is to do what is best for you. Educate yourself and run the numbers. Be as efficient as you can with what you have to work with (usually a budget, although that doesn’t seem to matter anymore). I’m all for being as energy efficient as possible, but there doesn’t appear to be a clear cut single solution so stop offending each other. You should be embarrassed. Just because you can plug in your car doesn’t mean it didn’t take coal to charge it in the first place. Moderation in all things!!!
The earthquake nuke disaster, should be the wake up call of wake up calls that we must improve our thoughts on our power needs. Surely leaving our children a poisoned world, thats unsustainable. I would hope is unacceptable.
In southern Indiana 1993 I watched a three day solar powered music festival.
I happen to know the same portable system is still in use and has since been supplemented with a windmill. Birds perch on the support wires and none have been shredded in spinning blades. the PV panels and small windmill charge a bank of batteries. He offers these systems and wishes to avail himself for those interested in doing it. I hope this is not too spammy and I am in no way financially affiliated with this genius. Try /www.faeriehillfarm.com that is his music site , but you can ask him about it.
btw he and his wife are off the grid FTW! they surf the net until their bandwidth runs out then they play electric guitars and synthesizers the rest of the day and night. conservative, but totally wired for modern convenience.
forgot to come back here in 2009 to respond to those that responded to my comments……..so here are my rebuttals. When I hear someone claim..’ what will we do when Coal runs out’ i have to laugh…..we have verified OVER 1000 years of coal resources in this country alone……I remember in the 70′s when the fear mongers claimed we only had 50 years of oil left at the current consumption rates….well, our consumption rates worldwide have DOUBLED+, and guess what they are saying now? we have 50 years of oil left……….So you ‘end of the world’ folks have got to stop using emotion where science is concerned……I would like Indiana to be one of the last states to adopt solar…why you ask? Because that means all the other states paid for the R&D installed the first and second generation Solar, while we will benefit from all of that and get the lastest and greatest Solar technology………by the way, I own a 100% electric car…… look forward to others comments………little quiz question….is our air in the USA cleaner now then it was 10 years ago……….???? remember science over emotion!
No one is interested in omitting carbons from the air , otherwise these companies wouldn’t be able to buy and sell emission rights like candy in a store.It’s sad to see greed take over instead of thinking of quality of life
burt’s a mole, ladies and gentlemen.
I live in southern Indiana, and installed 6500 watts worth (28 panels, 250 watts each) about 5 years ago. I have been very happy with the electricity bills, although our utility (a so-called co-op) pays only 6. something cents per kilowatt. I have made an average of a meg a month all summer. Now I have someone looking into the SRECs for me, although I have little faith that it will turn out.
NICE!!!
We need to change the way we live because of our future generations,
Our planet will not be able to survive the damage that is being done if
we don’t come up with a way to change what we are doing now. Everyone
will suffer over it. I hate what has happened to our planet already, we need
to save it ! I wish more people could get solar power & windmills. Maybe in
the years ahead we can figure out a way.