Solar Power Incentives | Finding Out More About Solar Incentives Available in Your State

Solar and Solar Power Incentives in the United States

In the United States, solar power is an area of considerable activity and as such there is great interest in solar power incentives to encourage investment. In fact, a lot of solar power plants have already been established, and the state and federal governments encourage residents to opt for safe, sustainable, and non-polluting renewable energy instead of other sources. These goverments offer incentives in the form of tax credits, rebates, deductions, exemptions, below-market rate loans, and out-of-pocket financial incentives. Each state, however, has different solar power incentives.

Solar Power Incentives in Vermont

In Vermont, for example, residents are offered solar power incentives in the form of loans, tax credits, sales tax exemptions, and property tax exemptions even if this state is known for its cold winters. The Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund offers loans that range from $50,000 to $750,000 for solar power projects. The residents may apply for 30% to 7.2% personal tax credits until 2016; and they may receive 100% sales tax exemption and property tax exemption if they buy a qualified solar system that includes panels, photovoltaics, and water heating.

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Solar Power Incentives in Washington

In Washington, residents are offered additional solar power incentives aside from the federal energy tax credits. Local, private, state, and utility grant programs, production incentives, utility loan programs, and utility rebate programs are available. Just like in Vermont, one may also receive 100% sales tax exemption if he purchases and installs photovoltaics and solar hot water systems. Moreover, if he qualifies for a Bonneville Environmental Foundation-Renewable Energy Grant, he or she can save up to 33% of capital costs for purchase and installation of solar power in Washington.

Solar Power Incentives in California

Californian residents can benefit from solar power incentives too since they are the biggest user of solar energy in the United States. Those who borrow money to fund solar energy systems can deduct 100% of the interest from their income tax and are exempted from property taxes. They can also receive a tax credit worth 30% of the cost of purchasing and installing a photovoltaic system. Aside from these, they may also get a special 50% first year depreciation allowance as well as a renewable energy systems improvement grant if they own a small business.

Who Can Benefit from Solar Power Incentives?

Almost anyone can benefit from the solar power incentives offered by the U.S. government as long as he installs a solar water heater that meets certification standards by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation and generate at least half the energy for the qualifying property, or solar panels and photovoltaic systems that produce electricity and meet the fire and electrical codes. Federal solar power rebates and additional incentives are available to residents depending on their state. One can check out the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency too see what applies to him. Furthermore, he may maximize his financial benefits by selling back his excess generated energy back to his power grid.

Factors that Affect Solar Power Incentives

Nonetheless, it should be noted that several factors are taken into consideration before solar power incentives are granted to a resident and incentives can change at any. For instance, the government considers the physical aspects of installation and the system efficiency. This is usually affected by geographical location, weather conditions, shadings, obstructions, module efficiency, and angle of installation. The income and property value of a person may also affects the amount of solar power rebate cash he can get.

In order to determine your full solar power incentives please just use this information as a guide. Before making any purchases you should make sure review your states incentives and even go as far as call them to make sure that the incentives have not changed and that your purchase will qualify.

In addtion if you are considering a solar you may enjoy this article on reasons other then solar power incentives that make solar power houses worthwile.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 6:32 am and is filed under Cost of Solar Panels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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