One thing we have learned from watching various PV incentive programs come and go is if you have an incentive available, act sooner rather than later. While state tax credits for PV systems tend to be fairly stable, many utility and state-run incentive programs have started to decrease their incentive awards.
We wanted to know where relatively stable incentive programs were still in place, so we turned to Amy Heinemann, a senior policy analyst at the North Carolina Solar Center/DSIRE, who provided us this list.
- Energy Trust of Oregon’s Solar Electric Buy-Down Program is consistently open • http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=OR23F&re=1&ee=1
- California Solar Initiative’s PV Incentives are pretty transparent with step-downs after capacity targets are hit • http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=CA134F&re=1&...
- MassCEC Commonwealth Solar II Rebates open and close several times per year, but these “blocks” are scheduled • http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=MA71F&re=1&ee=1
- NYSERDA’s PV Incentive Program, as well as their other customer-sited tier incentives, are pretty stable through 2015 • http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=NY10F&re=1&ee=1
- Maryland’s Clean Energy Grant Program for residential solar is adjusted frequently, but is consistently available • http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=MD14F&re=1&ee=1
As far as SREC programs go, spot pricing in Massachusetts has been remaining high (~$500 per SREC). SREC pricing in Washington, DC, has been on the rise (currently ~$275 per SREC).
Even with reduced incentives, with PV modules offered at some of the lowest prices we’ve seen, now’s still a good time to implement your PV system plan.
