Feather River Solar Electric

Financial Incentives

Country and state-wide there are many different funds available for buying a grid intertie solar electric system. There are several financial incentives currently available here in NE California area. Many are being offered by the State of California, which include:

1. The CA Energy Commission's PV Buydown Rebate Program is giving people who have solar electric systems installed at their homes, $2.80 per watt of the PTC system size, as of 1 January 2006. Check C.E.C. site (http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/erprebate/index.html) for current level of rebate). This is a "cash in your hands" rebate, no smoke and mirrors. The C.E.C. rebate program is by far, the biggest element of the entire incentive picture, representing about 30-40% of the system cost paid back to you.
2. You will NOT be assessed a higher tax value on your home with the installation of a qualifying system.
3. State and Federal income tax credits come and go, increase and decrease over time. Please visit http://www.dsireusa.org for an excellent, current resource for tax incentives.
4. P.G.&E. is mandated to buy the electricity you produce at the same retail rate at which they sell it to you. This is "net metering". And, if you have a "Time-of-use" meter installed, you can sell your electricity back to P.G.&E. at $0.32/KWhr! That's about 2 1/2 times the basic rate.
5. From the moment the sun first shines on your new system, your electric bill will drop. The reduction in your bill will vary based on factors such as: How large of a system you've installed, how much sun you are receiving (seasonally), whether or not you had a "time-of-use" meter installed, outside air temperature, and other factors. Most systems will pay for themselves in 7-12 years, with the current incentives. After your system has paid for itself, there has never been a better definition of FREE electricity.
6. In some cases, PV panels on a roof can reduce the air conditioning load on the house.
7. If you do sell your home, certainly touting a low or non-existing electric bill is a desirable attribute and increases the value of your home.

Other incentives

8. A solar electric panel produces enough electricity in approximately 2.5 years to pay back the energy it took to create it. This means after that 2.5 years is over, for the next 20,30, maybe 40 years, no carbon dioxide, no sulphur, no acid rain, no mercury, no nuclear waste, etc will be created to provide you with decades of electricity.
9. And, well, politics? They're there, but I'm not going there....you're on your own.