New Colorado Solar Rebate Program Includes All Residents

Most Coloradans have had access to solar power rebates in recent years. That’s because many are customers of two investor-owned utilities, Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy. But most is not all, and the state of Colorado wants to make solar power accessible to all state residents. So today marks Day One of Recharge Colorado, a new rebate program that will extend solar rebates to non-customers of Black Hills or Xcel Energy.

Already the Recharge Colorado website is receiving heavy traffic — enough to temporarily disable certain portions of the site. At the time of writing, only appliance rebate information is open to consumers, with a slightly broader gamut of links open to renewable energy contractors. Here’s the solar (and wind) rebate information those web traffickers are (or want to be) looking at (from getsolar.com):

Photovoltaics (PV)

The program will pay 20 to 30% of total PV system costs, including installation. According to the Governor’s Energy Office, in some instances, when combined with local incentives, homeowners may be able to subsidize up to 50% of costs. Customers of Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy are NOT eligible for the PV rebate because their utilities already offer their own.

More Solar + Wind

The program will also pay 30% of the cost for solar water heaters, both residential and commercial systems. Also included is wind power. Residential wind turbines producing up to 10 kilowatts are eligible for a 30% rebate, and commercial wind systems are good for 15 to 20% of total system cost.

In order to qualify for the rebates, homeowners must get a home energy audit before applying for the program — an important stipulation.

Also covered under the new rebate program are certain energy efficiency and home appliance upgrades:

• Insulation and air sealing – 20% of costs up to $400. Can be combined with a local utility rebate, but combination not to exceed $600.
• Duct sealing – 20% up to $75. Again, may be combined with utility incentive but not to exceed $125 if applicable.
• Whole-house energy audit – $25 to $100, depending on the cost of the audit.
• Whole-house energy monitor - $50 and no more than $100 if combined with utility rebate.
• Energy Star appliances - Appliances included, all of which must be Energy Star rated, are clothes washers, dishwashers, high-performance gas condensing, as well as tankless gas water heaters, gas boilers, refrigerators and furnaces. Rebates range from $75 to $500 depending on the type of appliance.

This program is analogous to a public option in health care politics, only (thankfully) much less controversial. It extends “coverage” to rest of Colorado and, judging by the busy traffic on Day One, the rest of Colorado is hungry for solar power.

Source: Get Solar
Photo Credit: SpheralSolar

Posted on April 21st in Solar Funding, Solar News by Dan.