By GLYNIS HART
[email protected]
CLAREMONT—“If you’re thinking of investing in solar, now is a good time to do it,” said Jack Ruderman. Ruderman, director of community solar for Revision Energy, was one of a panel of experts addressing the small-business summit held at the community center. Sponsored by the chamber of commerce, the Small Business Association (SBA) and the City of Claremont, the summit offered a short primer on federal and state support for home or small business to install renewable energy systems.
Ruderman gave a brief overview of tax credits available for solar systems. “There’s a 30-percent federal investment tax credit for a homeowner solar system,” he said. “The commercial credit is also 30 percent, but that only runs through 2019. In 2020 it’s reduced to 26 percent, in 2021 it’s 22, and then it drops to 10.”
The federal solar tax credit allows homeowners and business owners to deduct 30 percent of the cost of installing a solar energy system from their federal taxes, as long as they own the system themselves. Whereas in the past the solar system needed to be operational to claim the credit, now it just needs to be complete.
“There’s also a state rebate program,” said Ruderman. “It’s very popular; funds are limited. It opens each year in the fall, and there’s a run on the funds.”
The state program is run by the Public Utilities Commission and reimburses residential renewable energy producers on a per-watt basis, 4 cents a watt. The rebate program accepts systems that with a production capacity of 10 kilowatts or under. It also offers rebates for thermal renewable systems. New Hampshire Electric Cooperative also has renewable energy rebate programs.
Business owners and homeowners with solar (or other renewable energy) systems can also sell renewable energy credits (RECs) on the open market. “You can sell these certificates to utilities,” said Ruderman. “They’re tradable commodities.”
A few years ago, RECs were worth $50 each. The price has dropped to about $15 currently, however, the requirements for utilities to meet renewable energy goals have increased, which should start pushing the price back up. “We’re hoping to bring it into a healthy range,” said Ruderman.
An audience member who said he brokers electric power for a living asked whether there are local mechanisms for selling those RECs. “Yes,” said Ruderman. “We work with a company based in Lowell, Mass. They essentially aggregate them from a lot of homeowners and sell them in blocks.”
Claremont’s economic development czarina, Nancy Merrill, asked what the impact of state law is on net metering. Net metering is used to reimburse owners of solar/renewable energy systems who feed power back into the grid.
“We aim to offset 95 percent of a customer’s annual usage,” said Ruderman. In response to an audience question about snow covering the solar panels, he explained that annual usage takes into account the fact that December and January are usually low-production months. Then again, “There are going to be months when you are overproducing.”
The average cost of a home solar array runs from $15,000 to $35,000 before the incentives are applied. The payback period, when the owner’s savings in energy costs equals the amount spent, can be 6 to 7 years.
Merrill asked about storing energy. For a small system of 10 kilowatts, if the owner wanted to store the energy rather than feeding it back into the grid, a full panel of batteries could cost from $15,000 to $20,000.
However, that could change soon. “It’s coming,” said Ruderman. “Tesla’s making batteries as best it can, and so are a bunch of other companies.”
“How do you maintain a roof with solar panels on it?” asked Merrill. “The hope is that the roof and the panels will both go 40 years?”
“The panels protect the roof from ultraviolet rays,” said Fuderman, “which is what deteriorates the roof the most. But, if you’re five years away from having to replace your roof, that’s not a good time to install panels.”
Ground-mounted panels are more expensive, and more difficult to remove, but are also easier to place. Roof-mounted systems are limited by the pitch of the roof, its orientation vis-à-vis the sun, and the size of the roof, among other things. To install panels on the roof requires a structural analysis as well.
Another audience member asked if homebuyers consider houses with solar panels more valuable.
“My guess is, not in New Hampshire, but in California they would because there are so many incentives,” said Ruderman. Another panelist commented that there are signs that appraisals on houses with renewable energy systems are going up, acknowledging the increased value of the house.
Panelist Karen Lynch of USDA Rural Development added that there are federal loans available. “This is one of the few areas in federal government where a for-profit can get a grant,” she said. “Type in the address of your project on our website to see if it’s an eligible area.”
Hydropower, small and large wind systems, ocean generation and renewable energy systems can get grants up to 20 percent of the project’s cost. However, she said, it’s complicated. “Call us.”
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