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Question of the Day: Will the new Administration affect my Solar Incentives?

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Should we be concerned about the new Republican Administration and the future of Solar Power?

Solar Energy, Residential Solar Panels ,Solar ServiceDue to its tremendous growth, popular appeal, and ever improving economics, solar power enjoys increasingly bi-partisan support on the Hill and in Governors offices around the country.  Due to this, we predict very little, if any, impact on solar growth from the current Administration and/or a Republican Congress.  To help explain this, let’s look at the three main drivers of successful solar economics for the typical solar consumer – Federal Tax Credit, SRECs, and cost of solar equipment:

Federal Tax Credit:  30% of system cost.  This has been an enormously successful tax incentive enabling wide scale deployment of solar on both a utility and distributed scale.  Economies of scale have helped to drive the cost of solar; while further increasing demand – allowing the solar industry to grow exponentially.  This has been applauded by both major political parties for the private capital investment opportunities and huge job growth in the solar sector.   In fact, the US solar industry currently employs more people than the US oil, gas, and coal industries combined.

The 30% solar investment tax credit (ITC) was extended by Congress (many of whom were Republican) in late 2015 and is designed to decline in future years to eventually fall back to a permanent 10%.  The ITC schedule from the December 2015 legislation is as follows:

2016 – 2019: The tax credit remains at 30 percent of the cost of the system. This means that in 2017, you can still get a major discounted price for your solar panel system.

2020: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 26 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.

2021: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 22 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.

2022 onwards: Owners of new commercial solar energy systems can deduct 10 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes. There is no federal credit for residential solar energy systems.

In a nutshell, most in the solar industry believe it would be political suicide for the majority of congressional representatives to vote for a repeal of this enormously successful Investment Tax Credit that is scheduled to decline anyway.  There are too many solar jobs and solar projects in Republican districts for the majority of Republicans to consider advocating for repeal.  The horse is out of the barn and solar is winning!

SRECs: Maryland and Washington DC offer Solar Renewable Energy Credits to solarized homes and businesses.  This is a State/District-mandated incentive that, if anything, shows signs of expanding among the 29 States that have currently adopted an RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard).  This is largely due to the fact that State Houses wish to support the exponential renewable energy sector job growth amidst the scheduled, declining Federal Support.

Solar Technology Costs:  Advancing technology, manufacturing scale, high adoption rates, and investor confidence in solar technology continue to drive down solar project costs.  We don’t see this momentum changing anytime soon.

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Non-South facing solar panel installs in Maryland, DC and Virginia

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The Design

Eastern Shore ,MD,Solar Service, Home Solar PanelsWhen planning a solar panel system for your home, the first consideration for any solar designer is the tilt and orientation of your roof areas.  We need to know which roof(s) will ensure the most optimum solar output – which translates to the best Return on Investment.   For us here in Maryland, the most optimum solar roof orientation is Due South at 180 degrees.  Of course, not everyone has this perfectly oriented roof and our customer base consists of homes that have South, West, East and everything-in-between orientations.  Occasionally we even install on North-facing roofs if the pitch of the roof is low enough that panels are close to flat, or can be tilted southerly.

For homes that face East-West, you may be wondering which roof would best suited for solar.  This is a good question given the fact that the output of your solar panels is directly related to your Return on Investment and how quickly the panels can pay for themselves.

If either East or West favors a more Southerly angle, then that would likely be a more favorable roof.  Assuming that there aren’t issues related to shadingor obstructions caused by chimneys, vents, skylights and other roof-placed items.

If the house has a perfectly split East-West orientation, with all things equal – the next consideration would be roof angle; the lower the tilt (i.e. closer to horizontal) – the more solar energy will be generated over the course of the day.  If the tilt on either side is the same then we would usually favor the West facing side.   Here in Maryland, DC and Virginia we tend to have cloudier mornings, and sunnier afternoons going into dusk.  Therefore we want to capture the late afternoon sun (west facing) more than early morning sun (East facing).  Of course, should you happen to have a tree, chimney or other obstructing factor(s) on the West roof – we’d favor the East.

The Economics

Homeowners looking at an East-West installation often have concerns as to whether or not their system will be profitable enough, compared to its south-facing counterparts.    Disqualifiers for cost-effective solar systems include shading and limited available roof space.  Rarely, however, is a home found unsuitable due to a Non-Southerly facing roof alone.

To illustrate, following is a comparison of a 10kW system’s output respective to East, West and South facing orientations.  Data compiled using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) weather data patterns for Baltimore, MD –

10kW system installed on a 20 degree pitched roof with zero shade

 SOUTH (180 degrees) WEST (270 degrees) EAST (90 degrees)
ANNUAL OUTPUT 13,224kWh 11,389kWh 11,328 kWh
*Annual $avings $1853 per year $1594 per year $1586

*Savings based on a conservative $3.00/watt installation, and $0.14/watt BGE rate

Data from PV WATTS

As illustrated, although perfectly South would be ideal, the East and West orientations provide a competitive amount of solar and would add only a few months to the payback period.  If you were choosing between East and West (as opposed to installing on both), the difference is nominal.  The choice of which roof may come down to aesthetic preference, distance to utility meter and regional weather patterns.

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