Nevada's Rebates and Incentives for Solar Energy Systems

Nevada is one of America's best bets for solar energy, enjoying some of the most consistent sunshine in the country. As one would expect, Nevada is fast becoming one of the top solar states, rivaling the likes of New Jersey and Colorado (everyone's chasing California). Nevada's renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requires all utilities in the state to get at least 25 percent of the power from renewable sources by 2025, including rules that set annual requirements. For example, they must have 12 percent renewables by the end of 2010. Furthermore, there is a minimum solar requirement stating that at least 5 percent of those annual requirements must be met with solar energy until 2015.

In order to get things going, the state and its largest utilities are joining forces to offer incentives for consumers to go solar. Following are a list of rebates and incentives available to homeowners in Nevada.

RenewableGenerations Rebate Program

This rebate program is funded by the state but administered by NV Energy. It is intended for that utility's customers only, which represents the majority of the state's power users. The program has several "steps." Step One for solar power runs from 2010 to 2011. Schools, churches, non-profits and other public property get a whopping $5.00 per watt AC in rebates. Residential systems get a more reasonable rate of $2.30 per watt, which is smaller but still very competitive with other states, few of which get as much actual sunshine as Nevada. The maximum incentive for home solar power systems is $23,000 with a maximum size of 1 megawatt (MW).

Unfortunately, the program had 13.4 MW of solar power capacity available for this program year and received nearly 35 MW-worth of applications within six hours of opening. Therefore, the program is closed to solar applications for the year. Small wind and hydroelectric systems are still eligible. To learn more details and keep track of when solar incentives may again become available, see RenewableGenerations.

Renewable Energy Systems Property Tax Exemption

Passive solar space heat, solar water heaters, active solar heating systems and PV systems are all exempt from property tax increases in Nevada. This tax law has been around since the mid-1970s and stipulates that any value added by a renewable energy system must be subtracted from the assessed value of a property. See the Department of Taxation for more information.

PACE Financing - Special Improvement Districts

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs allow homeowners to borrow from their municipality to pay for solar power systems and pay back the balance of the loan through an assessment on their property taxes. The state of Nevada passed legislation allowing cities, counties and towns to develop their own versions of PACE financing that are administered locally. As of the end of 2009, no cities in Nevada had yet adopted the programs, although the law had only existed since May 2009. PACE programs are incredibly popular. So if your city or county has implemented a program, then you've most likely heard about it. Contact your local government for information.

Southwest Gas Corporation Solar Thermal Advantage Rebate Program

Residential customers of Southwest Gas Corporation are eligible for a rebate on new solar water heaters or solar space heating systems. The rebate is worth 30 percent of total costs, including installation, up to $1,500 for water heaters and $3,000 for space heaters. Customers must pay for and install the system, then submit an application to the utility with a receipt/invoice and relevant information. All systems must be SRCC certified.

Net Metering

Of course, whenever you install a grid-connected solar electric system, arrangements must be made with the utility regarding the exchange of power (rather than non-solar customers' consumption of power only). In Nevada, when a home solar power system produces excess energy in a given month, that net excess generation (NEG) is carried over to the customer's next bill at the retail rate. In most states, all accounts must be settled at the end of a 12-month billing cycle, but in Nevada, NEG carries on indefinitely. If the system accumulates any renewable energy credits (RECs), they stay with the system owner unless the system is subsidized by the utility, in which case the utility gets ownership of all RECs.