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Pennsylvania Solar RebatesLearn how to qualify for solar rebates in Pennsylvania to generate your own power and save money on energy costs. Get the latest details about government programs to help you go solar, including tax credits, rebates, renewable energy credits and net-metering. Solar installation costs are lower than ever thanks to Pennsylvania solar rebates and Pennsylvania solar incentives. The federal government offers a 30 percent Federal Investment Tax Credit to help offset solar costs. One of the helpful Pennsylvania solar rebates is the Pennsylvania Sunshine Solar Rebate Program which provides rebates up to 35 percent of installed costs. Solar loans are available through the Keystone Home Energy Loan Program. Net-metering is another helpful Pennsylvania solar incentive that enables you to earn a profit when your solar panel system generates excess energy. SolarPanelsOnline.org has up-to-date information on Pennsylvania solar rebates and Pennsylvania solar incentives. There has never been a better time to convert to clean solar power.
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Pennsylvania Considers Raising Renewable Energy Target after Solar Demand Surge
Residential and small business demand for solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar hot water systems grew so fast in Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2010 that the state’s $100 million PA Sunshine Solar Program ran out of rebate money. With the program in “Waiting List” mode since August 2011, state legislators are now considering a bill that would speed up the rate at which utilities are required to add solar power capacity to their distribution systems in an effort to avoid a “boom, bust, boom cycle,” according to the York Daily Record.
Pennsylvania’s 2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act set a solar power goal of 41 MW for 2012. With 2012 now here, Pennsylvania finds itself with 150 MW of installed solar power capacity the majority of which comes from net-metered residential solar PV systems.
Pennsulvania Solar Market Conditions: HB 1580
Pennsylvanians are still installing solar PV and solar hot water systems, but at a rate far lower than what’s been the case when the rebate program was active. Moreover, the value of Alternative Energy Credits (AECs), aka Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) issued under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) is dropping. That, along with the suspension of the PA Sunshine Solar rebate program, has those who have installed solar energy systems looking at longer payback periods, in some cases from 10 or so years out as far as 15, according to the York Dispatch.
The PA Sunshine Program continues to accept rebate applications while in waiting list mode, but the state’s solar energy businesses, having ramped up to meet the surge in demand, are now hurting. In an effort to boost demand for solar power, the Pennsylvanians legislature’s House Consumer Affairs Committee is considering House Bill (HB) 1580, a bill that would increase the rate at which the state’s electric utilities add solar power capacity to their distribution systems, according to the York Dispatch report.
The trade-off to enact HB 1580 appears to be well worthwhile. For an additional 4 cents per month, Pennsylvanians would keep both the drive to replace polluting fossil fuel with clean, renewable energy and the emergent solar renewable energy job creation engine going.
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SOLAR PANELS
