Government incentives could encourage more nationwide installation of solar panels
Renewable energy is on everyone’s mind… including the government. To encourage people to switch to solar power or other non-fossil-fuel based power sources, the U.S. federal government will allow you up to 30% of the cost of solar installation in the form of tax credits. But, the deal could get even sweeter! Two Senators have proposed a new bill that would provide for the U.S. Government to pay 50% of solar panel costs.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Steve Cohn (D-TN) put forth potential new legislation that is modeled after California’s Million Solar Roofs initiative. The “10 Million Solar Roofs and 10 Million Gallons of Solar Water-Heating Act”would help encourage the addition of 10 million new solar arrays and 200,000 new solar water heating systems to the national energy mix.
The goal: to reach 30,000 megawatts (MW) or more of photovoltaic panel installations. To put it into perspective, it would double similar solar initiatives from China and India. In the mix are thousands of green jobs in the manufacturing and system installation industries.
The plan: Solar power systems would receive incentives starting at $1.75 per watt, and rebates under the proposed bill would be in addition to existing federal rebates, up to 50% of the solar panel cost. However, federal rebates are just part of the puzzle. State incentives are added on top, which can lead to rebates for home solar power systems of 80% or more, depending on where you live.
The bottom line is that the question that is forefront on many peoples’ minds: how can you reduce the cost of solar panels, may be answered very soon. Already generous government rebates could be increased even more!
Stay tuned to get more news and the most up to date information on how to save money with your solar installations!
Tags: cost of solar installation, cost solar panels, home solar power systems, million solar roofs, new solar arrays, photovoltaic panels, save money solar installation, solar panel cost, solar water heating, thousands green jobs
August 14th, 2011 at 6:16 am
Let me know
Can anyone let me know when the goverment incentive rebates are in place for solar power in home, so I can by that time hopefully afford to switch over. Or if there is a link where I can go to keep track of when those rebates are in place
September 16th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Wow! This is great! First the Feds borrow money from the Chinese to pass out in grants and rebates. Then, we buy solar panels from China – where they are the cheapest – and send the borrowed money back! Too bad we still have to pay the interest on the loans! Oh,well…