Financial Incentives for Solar Installations

Several great rebates and tax credits for solar systems are available from the State of New Jersey and the Federal Government.

How Solar Panels Reduce Your Net Electric Use:

Your solar array will make electricity that you would otherwise buy from your utility company. This electricity has a "blended rate" (supply and delivery) of about $0.19 or $0.20 per kilo watt-hour today. Your system can be sized to make all the electricity you use on an average annual basis. To make this work, the electricity make when the sun shines but don't use is sent to the electric utility grid. You keep track of this with your electric meter by turning it backwards. You can have this electricity back at night when the sun is down. Turning your electric meter backwards during the day and forward at night is like having a invisable battery to use, therefor eliminating the old solar hassal of electric storage with batteries.

Residential Solar Rebates:

Federal Tax Credit is 30% of out of pocket costs (after State rebate is applied)
State of New Jersey REIP provides $0.75 per watt installed up to $ 5625 and up to 10,000 watts in size

Commercial Solar Rebates:

Federal Tax Credit is 30% of out of pocket costs
State of New Jersey SREC program
Equipment Depreciation: 5 Years accelerated

SREC Value:

Every month, your system earns you valuable SRECs or energy "credits". These credits are the financial backbone of the NJ rebate approach and the hardest to understand at first. Given to you monthly, they return a portion of your financial investment based on electric production from your system. More information about Solar Renewable Energy Credits is available on this website.