Solar-panel incentives lure customers
By Andy Vuong. The Denver Post / 31 Dec 2008
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_11339744
Ilan Caplan and his wife, Amy Berkowitz Caplan, had solar panels installed on their home in Lowry a year ago. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post ). Ilan Caplan took the plunge last December and had 14 solar panels installed on the roof of his 2,900-square- foot home in Lowry. The 2.87-kilowatt photovoltaic system — enough to generate about 75 percent of his family’s power needs — cost about $9,000 after rebates from Xcel Energy. He also received a $2,000 tax credit from the federal government. Caplan has saved nearly $1,000 on utility bills and estimates that the cost of the system will be recovered in just more than seven years. “I wished we would’ve done it earlier,” said Caplan, a finance director for a wind-power company based in California.
Indeed, many Colorado residents contemplating a move to solar may have similar thoughts because Xcel Energy recently slashed the amount it rebates to customers from $2.50 per watt to $1.50 per watt. The cut is expected to dampen interest in solar installations, which cost about $14,000 for a typical 4.5-kilowatt rooftop system with the full rebate.
“When an incentive is dropped, it takes awhile for people to get back into the swing of things,” said Beth Hart, executive director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade association. “There is usually a three-month lull before it starts to pick up again.”
When Xcel announced the cut in late October, the utility provided a 30-hour window for applications to be submitted under the old $2.50-per-watt credit. “They received about 1,000 applications at that time,” Hart said. Since then, there have been 23 applications. Before the cut, the average was about 300 per month, Hart said.
A few other incentives and programs, however, may help steady interest in solar-power systems. Beginning Thursday, the federal government will lift the $2,000 maximum on the solar-energy credit for residential solar installations. Homeowners will receive a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of the system, without a cap. Xcel said the change in the tax credit would help offset much of its rebate reduction.
At the state level, Gov. Bill Ritter announced this month a solar program that provides rebates of up to $9,000 for residential installations. Xcel, the state’s largest utility, is not a participant in the program. Partners include rural and municipal utilities such as United Power and the Delta- Montrose Electric Association. Xcel customers, however, can participate in a community purchasing network established by San Francisco-based One Block Off the Grid.
Here’s how it works: Homeowners interested in installing a solar system register with One Block at 1Bog.org. After receiving 100 participants in the same metro area, the company issues a request for proposals to solar installers on the homeowners’ behalf. One Block’s pilot campaign in San Francisco included 190 registered participants. Eighty-five of them had their homes evaluated, and 42 ended up installing a system. The community request for proposals cut the cost of those systems — before any rebates — from $9.10 per watt to $7.50 per watt, said One Block founder Dave Llorens.
The company recently launched the program in the Denver area and has garnered five sign-ups. Among them is Sloan’s Lake resident Katya Mauritson, who serves as the “green chairperson” for her neighborhood association. Mauritson found out about One Block after calling around to find out whether solar installers offered group discounts. “We’re really just looking to find a way to not have huge upfront costs and dig into people’s savings at this point in the economy,” she said.