Citizens of the Golden State know just how lucky they are for all the plentiful sunshine they have all year-round. And apart from improving their tans and the general mood — it also makes California ideal for solar power.
Plus, solar power isn’t just energy-efficient in California; it’s also incredibly affordable, thanks to plenty of solar incentives and rebates available in the state. If you want to learn more about why going solar is the best financial move a homeowner can make in California, read on below!
Local solar rebates
There are plenty of local solar rebates all over the Golden State. Some of these allow solar shoppers to get back anything from $500 overall to $0.95 per watt in installed solar capacities. Companies like the Rancho Mirage Energy Authority give $500 rebates for your solar permit fees once the utility company has given PTO (permission to operate).
Net metering
Net metering is one of the most widely used solar incentives across the United States — and it’s one of the biggest reasons to go solar for California homeowners as well, despite recent legal misgivings on the practice. In the Golden State, all solar homeowners get bill credits for surplus solar power that their system produces — valued at the retail rate of their utility company.
There’s a capacity limit set at 5% of the aggregate peak demand for all customers — but there are plenty of utility companies running a net metering program in California, such as:
- Southern California Edison (SCE)
- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
- Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE)
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
DAC-SASH
There are a couple of other great incentives for California homeowners thinking of going solar — such as the single-family Solar Homes program for disadvantaged communities. This program gives single-family, income-eligible homeowners an upfront rebate for the installation of solar panels. However, this rebate is only available to San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and Pacific Gas and Electric customers.
Federal Solar Tax Credit
While all of the other CA solar incentives that we’ve mentioned have been state-specific for California — we shouldn’t leave out the biggest solar incentive of all! And that’s the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) that allows you to reduce the expenses for PV solar energy equipment by a stunning 26 percent!
Of course, you should remember that this tax credit is only available to people who use cash or a solar loan to buy their panels outright — those who lease are not eligible. Also, your income needs to be high enough for this tax credit to mean something.
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