{"id":5964,"date":"2016-04-22T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portal.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/"},"modified":"2019-11-13T22:41:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T22:41:01","slug":"party-for-solar-incentives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/","title":{"rendered":"Party for Solar Incentives"},"content":{"rendered":"

The industry association for solar companies is looking for a new CEO. Here at Solar.com, we\u2019ve got a little advice for the next commander in chief. Throw more parties! <\/span>Wouldn\u2019t you throw a party if you were making money for yourself and all your friends?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Look at what\u2019s been happening lately in solar.<\/span><\/p>\n

December 2015:<\/strong> Congress and President Obama preserve a tax credit so any household or small business that goes solar in the next three and a half years gets a<\/span> 30 percent refund<\/span><\/a>, straight from the government.<\/span><\/p>\n

January:<\/strong> California<\/span><\/a> extends a state program called net metering that lets homeowners and small businesses sell solar energy back to the electric company at the rate they pay when buying energy from the grid.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month:<\/strong> New Hampshire<\/span> extends its net metering program. Then<\/span> Massachusetts<\/span><\/a> does the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people can see that solar incentives are beneficial, but it can be hard to translate the value of these incentives into dollars and cents if you don\u2019t know how much it costs to install solar or to purchase electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry. We got this.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Show Me the Money\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For the average solar installation, the value of the solar tax credit is about <\/span>$6,700<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the average homeowner in California who produces enough solar energy to cover all household energy needs, net metering is worth about <\/span>$1,200 a year<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In New Hampshire, where the average home consumes more energy, net metering is worth about <\/span>$1,300 a year<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Massachusetts, where people consume more energy <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> pay a higher price, net metering is worth about <\/span>$1,400 a year<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

DIY Solar Research<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Solar incentives can vary a lot as you move around the US from state to state, based on the amount of energy you use and how much you pay for it. We\u2019ll show you how to find all the information needed to see what the incentives look like in your neighborhood. Or use our bid generator to see how much you can save by going solar, and let us customize the value of the incentives for your home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Solar Installation Prices<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Every year, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab publishes a report on solar installations in the US called<\/span> Tracking The Sun<\/span><\/a>. The latest report, released last summer, shows an average residential system size of 6.2 kilowatts (kW). It also shows an average residential system price of $4.30 per Watt (W) — but the average Solar.com customer gets $3.60 per W.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do a little math, using Solar.com prices. (Note that 6.2 kW = 6,200 W.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Average system size \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Average price \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Average total price<\/strong><\/p>\n

6,200 W \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00d7 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3.60 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 = \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $22,320<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you see that the average size and average price of a solar installation are different in your home state, replace the numbers to calculate a new average system price. Then, for the fun part, multiply by 30 percent (.30) to find out the value of your solar tax credit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Electricity Prices<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The US Department of Energy provides a huge amount of information about electricity prices on its website. To estimate the annual value of net metering credits in your state, you\u2019ll need to know how much energy people usually consume and how much they pay for it. Start by<\/span> downloading a table<\/span><\/a> from the Dept. of Energy showing average monthly consumption for each US state. Remember to multiply by 12 to get average annual consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then visit the webpage where the Dept. of Energy shows<\/span> average residential electricity prices<\/span><\/a>, with new updates every month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Multiply average annual consumption by the average electricity price to estimate the yearly value of net metering. Here\u2019s an example using figures from California.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monthly consumption<\/span> Annual consumption<\/span> E<\/span>lectricity price<\/span> Value of net metering<\/span><\/p>\n

562 kWh \u00d7 12 = 6,744 kWh \u00d7 $0.1776 per kWh = $1,198<\/strong><\/p>\n

If math isn\u2019t your thing, it\u2019s cool. Use our bid generator. Copy our homework.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, let\u2019s party!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The industry association for solar companies is looking for a new CEO. Here at Solar.com, we\u2019ve got a little advice for the next commander in chief. Throw more parties! Wouldn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":6138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nParty for Solar Incentives | Solar.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Party for Solar Incentives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Solar.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Solar.comOfficial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/solarassets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/solarparty_blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mattew Hirsch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtthwhrsch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mattew Hirsch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mattew Hirsch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/4da88edc364200cd836f9aeb06476d1f\"},\"headline\":\"Party for Solar Incentives\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Incentives by State\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\",\"name\":\"Party for Solar Incentives | Solar.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Solar Learning Center\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Solar Rebates & Incentives\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-rebates-incentives\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Solar Incentives by State\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-rebates-by-state\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Party for Solar Incentives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/\",\"name\":\"Solar.com\",\"description\":\"Solar Learning Center\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"solar.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solar.com-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solar.com-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"solar.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Solar.comOfficial\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/4da88edc364200cd836f9aeb06476d1f\",\"name\":\"Mattew Hirsch\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aa90f7296fd2bded623a358be8ffcf78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aa90f7296fd2bded623a358be8ffcf78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mattew Hirsch\"},\"description\":\"Matt Hirsch has been writing about the solar industry since 2009. He joined the Solar.com content team in 2016.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.hirschmedia.biz\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/matthewbhirsch\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtthwhrsch\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/author\/matthew-hirsch\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Party for Solar Incentives | Solar.com","description":"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Party for Solar Incentives","og_description":"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/","og_site_name":"Solar.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Solar.comOfficial\/","article_published_time":"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":507,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/solarassets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/solarparty_blog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mattew Hirsch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtthwhrsch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mattew Hirsch","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/"},"author":{"name":"Mattew Hirsch","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/4da88edc364200cd836f9aeb06476d1f"},"headline":"Party for Solar Incentives","datePublished":"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/"},"wordCount":636,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Solar Incentives by State"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/","name":"Party for Solar Incentives | Solar.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-04-22T06:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-13T22:41:01+00:00","description":"It's a party for solar incentives right now, but not for long! See how much you can save by making the switch to solar energy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/party-for-solar-incentives\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Solar Learning Center","item":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Solar Rebates & Incentives","item":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-rebates-incentives\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Solar Incentives by State","item":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-rebates-by-state\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Party for Solar Incentives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/","name":"Solar.com","description":"Solar Learning Center","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization","name":"solar.com","url":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solar.com-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solar.com-Logo.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"solar.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Solar.comOfficial\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/4da88edc364200cd836f9aeb06476d1f","name":"Mattew Hirsch","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aa90f7296fd2bded623a358be8ffcf78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aa90f7296fd2bded623a358be8ffcf78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mattew Hirsch"},"description":"Matt Hirsch has been writing about the solar industry since 2009. He joined the Solar.com content team in 2016.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.hirschmedia.biz","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/matthewbhirsch","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtthwhrsch"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/author\/matthew-hirsch\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6975,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions\/6975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}