Oregon State Solar Power Rebates, Tax Credits, and Incentives

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Update 2/24/10: One Block Off the Grid has plans to run a group purchasing campaign in Portland (it’s listed as ‘on the horizon’). 1BOG’s campaigns typically reduce the cost of going solar by 15-20%. Sign up for the Portland Solar Campaign here.

Oregon, sweet Oregon. Home to numerous wineries, beaches, rainforests, the cascade range, Columbia Gorge, high desert, and the lovely city of Portland. Luckily for the state, the congress and senate have recently passed some of the most progressive solar legislation in the entire country. This means it will be much easier for home and business owners to pay off investments in clean energy, hopefully leaving much of the Gorge water clear blue as ever. Well, what exactly did they do? Take a look!

The Renewable Energy Standard

In the 2007 session, the Oregon legislature passed the Renewable Energy Act (SB 838) and signed the bill into law June 6th, 2007. What did this do? Well, by 2025, major utilities will be required to harvest at least 25% of their energy from renewable sources. Pretty good! Where is all this energy gonna come from?

The University of Oregon Solar Energy Center reports that solar energy is, by a substantial margin, Oregon’s most abundant energy resource. In fact, Its capability to produce electricity, heat and light for buildings exceeds that of all other energy resources in Oregon – including hydro and wind.

Above is actually a solar energy resource map for the entire state for the month of July. While this picture is a little less sunny for the month of December, the entire area boasts annual solar energy exceeding most of Europe and Japan, New England, the Middle Atlantic States south to Virginia, and the upper Midwest. The resource is clearly there, we’ll keep up to date on larger scale solar power plant installations for the area. Some have been proposed for the Eastern desert areas of the state.

Oregon State Tax Credits

Over this past year the business tax credit for all solar installations in Oregon increased from 35% to 50% (Up to $20 Million dollars)! That’s the largest incentive in the nation. The credit must be taken over 5 years at 10% of all eligible installation costs per year. For great info and applications direct from the source, click here.
For homeowners, the tax credit is up to $6000 based at $3 per watt. $1,500 maximum can be claimed per year. The system must be verified by a tax-credit certified technician and be comprised of new UL listed equipment. The minimum system size for the tax credit is 200 watts. For all the forms you need and information from the state, click here.

BPA Bright Way Solar Thermal Program

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has launched a Northwest region solar thermal program called Bright Way. The bright way program was initially developed by the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB).

BPA has adopted the program specifications and is offering the program free to Northwest utilities. Each utility offers unique incentives along with the Bright Way program so check with your local utility to see if they offering Bright Way incentives.

If your utility isn’t offering Bright Way incentives ask them why not! And then make a recommendation that they contact the BPA and adopt the Bright Way program.

Oregon State Loans

The purpose of the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) Energy Loan Program (also known as SELP) is to promote energy conservation and renewable energy resource development.

The Energy Loan Program can loan to individuals, businesses, schools, cities, counties, special districts, state and federal agencies, public corporations, cooperatives, tribes, and non-profits. Projects must be in Oregon. We covered the loan program in a previous post. Check it out!

Energy Trust of Oregon Solar Programs

The Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) was recently established as a result of Oregon’s electricity restructuring bill. Currently the ETO offers several programs for residential and commercial solar installations.

Since the ETO’s funding comes from a 3% public benefits charge on PGE and PacifiCorp customers, these incentives are only available to PGE and PacifiCorp customers. NW Natural Gas customers are also eligible for solar thermal incentives. For more information on ETO programs contact the ETO or one of the solar trade allies listed on the ETO website.

Here are some further specifics of ETO solar electric incentives.

ETO Solar Electric (PV) Incentives
Residential Solar Electric Incentives
PGE:			$2.25/wDC up to $10,000.
Pacific Power :			$2.00/wDC up to $10,000.
Commercial Solar Electric Incentives
	First 30kWDC	Next 20kWDC	Maximum incentive (50kW)
Pacific Power	$1.25/wattDC	$1.00/wattDC	$57,500
PGE	$1.50/wattDC	$1.25/wattDC	$70,000

ETO Solar Water Heating Incentives
Residential Solar Water Heating IncentivesKeep in mind there is also a Residential State Solar Water Heating Tax Credit of: ($.60/KwH up to $1,500. More info on that here)
If you’ve got an electric water heater (PGE,Pacific Power):			$0.40/KwH up to $1,500.
If you’ve got a gas water heater (NW Natural, Cascade Natural) :			$0.30/KwH up to $1,500.
Commercial Solar Water Heating Incentives Keep in mind there’s a state tax credit for solar water heating equipment and installation as well (50% of eligible costs up to $20M)
For electric water heaters (Pacific Power, PGE)			$0.40/KwH
For gas water heaters (NW Natural, Cascade Natural)			$6.00/Therm

BEF Green Tags

I briefly mentioned the Bonnevile Environmental Foundation (BEF) in the state of Washington solar incentive post. When I looked further into what they actually did with Green Tags, I got a little more confused. That is, until I read through the FAQ written by Doug Boleyn over at Cascade Solar. Basically, green firms like Cascade Solar will pay up to $0.10/watt for energy savings you produce. Weird thing is though, to sell your green tags to these companies, you can’t be receiving any other incentive from the Energy Trust of Oregon. What’s up with that?

Oregon Net Metering

Ok, if you don’t know what net metering is, check out the basic explanation here. It rules. For very good pictures on how this works in Oregon, click here.

Consensus

Of recent, the Oregon legislature has done a very good job getting solar bills enacted. Let’s hope other states jump on the bandwagon. As a result of all of these Oregon programs, some local companies have even decided to integrate solar into their manufacturing plants. For instance, Pepsi Cola recently installed solar panels at their facility in Klamath which generates all the power for the entire plant! 172 kilowatts in three locations! The install cost over a million dollars but will pay itself off in about 10 years. From John Bocchi, general manager, Pepsi Cola of Klamath Falls. “I don’t know why more businesses aren’t taking advantage of this. It makes financial sense and it’s the right thing to do.” Well, how’d they finance this? 4 Steps.

1. Oregon Department of Energy: $444,412 Business Energy Tax Credits
2. Energy Trust of Oregon: $210,000 Incentives
3. Oregon Energy Loan Program: $950,000 Loan
4. Accelerated State and Federal Depreciation Schedule

Click here to have multiple solar installers bid to upgrade your Oregon home or business.