NEED TO KNOW
For a list of all available tax incentives and rebates in your area, visit www.dsireusa.org, a Web site run by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Residents in Golden who install a photovoltaic system receive a building permit fee waiver from the City, a $3.50 rebate from Xcel Energy for every watt of energy their system produces and a 30-percent tax credit from the federal government.
By Meredith Knight, GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT
Despite dropping equipment prices and rebates, tax credits and fee waivers offered by the state, federal and now local government, people are not jumping on the chance to install solar-powered electric systems in their homes.
“Our volume is down 50 percent from last spring,” said Greg Koss of Adobe Solar.
The drop in business is drastic, according to Koss, when you compare it to his business revenues growth. Last year his revenues doubled.
“I’ve heard from just about everyone else that their business is down and they’re cutting staff,” said Steve Cross of Sun Spot Solar. “We’re an anomaly.”
Cross said his solar installation business is doing the same or a little better than last year.
The sluggish economy makes customers leery of spending $10,000 upfront for the average home solar system, or as it’s called in industry jargon a “photovoltaic system.”
That same customer would receive nearly $20,000 from Xcel Energy’s rebate program and the federal tax credit.
Xcel Energy offers a $3.50 rebate for every watt of energy a resident’s solar system produces. That’s about half the cost of a typical system, according to Cross.
The federal government offers a 30-percent tax credit for the cost of the photovoltaics.
“That’s honestly the only way photovoltaics make sense,” Cross said.
Without those rebates, it may take 20 to 30 years of energy savings to pay back that investment. With the rebates and tax credits, it only takes five to seven years.
The solar customer base has also shifted more toward people who want to make a financial investment for their future, according to Cross.
“Everybody who was doing it to save the world and save the environment has already done it. Everybody who’s doing it now is doing it for business sense,” Cross said.
New legislation passed this year might make it easier for people to secure loans to finance the upfront costs of the system, Koss said.
Boulder County residents voted for a ClimateSmart Loan program that allows the county to sell bonds in order to raise a funding pool that is then used to finance low-interest loans for residents and businesses that are installing solar systems.
Representative Joe Miklosi (D-Denver) introduced House Bill 1350 that would extend that bond program statewide, but the bill was carried over for the next session.
“It’s so difficult for me to understand exactly how things are going to play out,” Koss said.
Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters
