Solar Nerd articles about: Incentives

After the death of the Build Back Better bill, a pared back climate bill that also died, machinations in the senate, and an unexpected last minute back-from-the-dead effort, President Biden signed the Investment Reduction Act this week. It’s being called the largest investment in combatting climate ever and the most significant environmental legislation since the Clean Air Act. The IRA covers a large swath of things intended to lower the cost of energy and prescription drugs, of which are outside the scope of this blog.

Texas likes to do things differently, and that extends even to esoteric areas like its electricity grid. Unlike other places in the country, the Lone Star state is truly alone when it comes to electricity. Texas isn’t connected to other regional grids, so when it’s short of electricity, it doesn’t have the ability import it from elsewhere. Because of this, Texas has suffered recent blackouts as extreme weather has become more common.

Rhode Island probably isn’t the first state that comes to mind when you think of solar, but it actually has more solar capacity per capita than Florida (the so-called “Sunshine” state). Why is this the case? First of all, Rhode Island has a good climate for solar that is comparable to the northwest corner of California. Rhode Island also has expensive electricity, with a price of residential electricity that hovers around 22.

Homeowners who want to go solar are usually interested in helping the environment, but for many people the top reason for adding solar panels to their house is to save money. Fortunately, everyone in the United States can be eligible for a federal income tax credit, which is currently worth 30% of the total system costs. For example, if you have a solar system with an invoice price of $20,000, the credit can reduce the amount of federal income tax you owe by $6,000.

Arizona is a great state for solar energy. Not only does it have some of the best year-round sunlight in the country, but it also has favorable incentives, including a generous state tax credit. This means that you can get two tax credits for going solar: one federal, and one state. Here’s a map of the solar energy that falls on the United States, with the areas with the highest solar potential colored in deep red:

California is a big and sunny state, so it’s no surprise that it’s one of the largest markets for solar in the United States. This is helped by the 26% federal tax credit, but there are other rebates that Californians can take advantage of to lower their costs even further. Here’s a complete list of solar tax credits and other incentives available to California homeowners in 2021. Federal solar tax credit Homeowners across the US can take advantage of the federal Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit, also known as the solar Investment Tax Credit for the business community.

Buying solar panels for your home is a large investment. How many years will it take for that investment to pay itself back? In the US, the best case is that a home solar panel system will break even financially in about 5 years. That’s if you live in a state with excellent financial incentives such as Rhode Island or New York. The average in the US is to break even in around 8 years.

If you’re a homeowner who’s ever done a major home renovation, you’ll know that certain upgrades will mean an increase in property taxes. When you do a home renovation, in most municipalities this will involve getting permits for things like electrical, plumbing, or construction work. When property tax assessment time rolls around, the assessor’s office will typically review any permits for the property. If it looks like significant renovation work was done, your taxes could go up.

Is net metering available in New Hampshire? Yes! Net metering is currently available from all electric utilities in New Hampshire. Credits for excess generation are banked and rolled over to the next month. Such credits may be carried forward indefinitely, but customers may elect to be paid for their credits at the avoided cost rate, which will be lower than the residential retail rate for electricity. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission website has the complete text of the current net metering rules.

Is net metering available in Utah? Net metering is available with some utilities in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power, the largest utility in the state, is currently transitioning away from net metering and offers net billing to new customers. Municipal utilities in Utah offer a combination of net metering, net billing, and feed-in tariffs. We list this policies in detail below. Net metering with Rocky Mountain Power In September 2017, Rocky Mountain Power came to an agreement with solar advocates and state agencies to end net metering for new customers and adopt a net billing scheme that is still relatively favorable to solar customers in the state.