THE SCIENCE OF SOLAR
Solar power is a reliable, and sustainable alternative energy source for your home or business
It utilizes sunlight to generate electricity via photovoltaic (PV) cells in the solar panels. This provides power to your home or business. You will only draw energy from the electrical grid when your home or business needs more energy than the solar panels con produce.
THE COST OF SOLAR
Solar panels do require a bit of money upfront but it is important to understand the cost over the lifetime of the panels as well as opportunities to reduce overall costs.
The Federal Government recently extended the Energy Tax Credit as part of the Consolidated Appriations Act 2021 (https//www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr133/-BILLS-116hr133enr.pdf)
Residential
Commercial
2020-2022
26%
26%
2023
22%
22%
2024
Phased out
10%
The tax credit is what percentage of your system cost can be taken off your taxes. There is no maximum capped amount. You may also be eligible to roll over partial credits to another year however, that year must also have the tax credit available. Talk to your accountant for more information when filing your taxes.
In order to claim your tax credits, the solar panels need to be purchased and installed. For leased systems the tax credit will only be redeemable by the owner.
"Additional federal, state, and local tax incentives may also be available." (https://www.dsireusa.org
USE THIS TEMPLATES TO DETERMINE:
Step 1: Determine the actual cost of your solar system
The value of cash rebates
( manufacturer etc.)
Step 2: Determine the payback period
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Federal tax credit
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Projected cost of your solar system
ACTUAL COST OF YOUR SOLAR SYSTEM
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$
$
$
$
$
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The payback period, or the time it will take you to break even, is another important number to help assess the cost of your solar power system.
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YOUR PAYBACK PERIOD
YEARS
$
$
**Should be based on your annual use and how much energy your system could replace. Netmetering, which sells back your excess energy to Dominion, may increase your annual cost savings.
This will further shorten the payback period.
State tax credit
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After the payback period has ended, you are truly saving money
On average , this is about 7-8 years. While that may seem long, solar panels have a typical lifespan of 20-30 years which still leaves years worth of cost savings!