(Credit: flickr Living Off the Grid)
A while back I wrote a blog post about solar energy in North Jersey based on news from my friend Anna at Green-Talk.com. One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), an organization that offers group purchasing discounts on solar energy, has finally come to North Jersey. Previously, they only operated in California. Think of it like buying in bulk: 1BOG negotiates with local solar companies to find the one that will give the best deal possible (and do a good job at it), and the solar companies bid on this because they know they’ll be getting that entire group’s business exclusively.
After figuring out the estimates online with 1BOG, someone from the company called us and went over the basic information and asked for our address to check out the roof with Google Maps. He said someone from the local company, The Solar Center, would contact us. Sure enough, George from The Solar Center also checked things out on Google Maps to get a rough estimate on the roof’s size and general direction and then set up a time to do an in-home evaluation.
Today George drove up on this beautiful sunny day in his blue Prius. He took a look at the direction of the roof, which ideally should be south facing. Ours faces more west than south, but in this case we’re lucky that the angle of the roof is rather flat. Apparently this will increase the amount of time the panels would be exposed to sunlight. He took a measurement of the roof and determined that, despite vent pipes and the direction of the house, we could fit 30 panels up there. Quite a lot of panels, if you ask this novice! Apparently this many panels constitutes a 6,000 watt system. The Solar Center estimates this will roughly account for 6,705 kWh per year, which won’t cover all of our energy use, but a good chunk of it. The average home in the US uses 11,200 kWh per year, and you can buy systems large enough to cover that – provided your roof is big enough. How much does a 6,000 watt system cost? $32,700. Now wait…before you X out of the window, keep reading.
Why is now the best time to invest in solar energy in Northern New Jersey? The Solar Center outlines some “favorable factors” (aka rebates, credits and discounts) that make right now a prime time for investing in solar energy.
1). By going through 1BOG, the prices are 16% less than the average price of solar panels in NJ. That’s savings right off the bat. Sign up ENDS with them on March 25th, so there’s very little time to get this discount.
2). Right now the state of NJ is providing a rebate for $1.75 per watt installed (up to 10,000 watts). For a 6,000 watt system, that is $10,500 off right there that you never have to pay. The Solar Center assumes that initial cost and then the state pays them back. Nice. Now that puts us at $22,450. Still pretty hefty. But here’s what’s important: This rebate is decreasing because our lovely new Governor has decided to reallocate these solar rebate funds. The rebate will drop to $1.55/watt (so we’d lose $1,000) soon.
3). Now you consider the 30% Federal Tax Investment Credit which gives you back 30% of the net price ($32k). For us, that’s $6,735 back, making the actual investment that we have to pay $15,715.
4). Beyond that, we’re making Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) from the power company. Because each power company is required to source a certain percentage of their power from renewable energy, they pay people with solar panels for producing some of that energy. For every 1,000 watts you produce, you earn one SREC. George told us the average SREC rate last year was roughly $650. If you do the math, that’s roughly $4000/year for a 6,000 watt system.
Are you guys still paying attention? I hope I didn’t lose you in the math. But, here’s the clincher. It will only take 3 years to pay off this investment! Then after that, we’ll actually be making money from it; The Solar Center estimates it will be roughly $80,000 in electricity savings and SREC income over 15 years! Not only that, but it will increase the value of the house as well. I mean…green ambitions aside, this just sounds like a good investment, period!
A big thanks to Green-Talk.com for spreading the word. Now I encourage you, my loyal readers, to spread it even further.
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So did you guys decide to go for this? Nice incentives. You sold me on it and I live in NH.
Yep! The deposit is down – it’s officially happening! Very exciting stuff.