Grants helping homeowners in county make switch to solar
Published 2:25 pm Thursday, September 16, 2010
If you can afford to pay more now, you could pay less — and eventually nothing — later.
That’s the refrain being sounded by people in Snohomish County who have taken advantage of incentives to install solar panels on their homes.
Since the Snohomish County Public Utility District began its solar incentive program about a year and a half ago, 73 people have participated, spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.
An array of federal, state and local incentives help whittle down the high cost of installing solar panels at homes and businesses.
The PUD pays up to $2,500 to cover installation for residential customers and up to $10,000 for businesses, depending on the size of the system. Alternatively, the PUD offers a low-interest loan program to finance installations.
The federal government covers 30 percent of the cost. The state makes payments for power generated and provides a sales tax refund. The incentives also apply to solar water-heating systems.
Customers shop from among solar-power companies, who do the installation.
Mark Schnell and his wife spent $28,000 to have 20 panels installed at their home in Brier last November.
The Schnells had $8,000 knocked off the cost by the federal government, received $2,000 from the PUD, are getting payments from the state, and are saving money by using less PUD electricity.
With all this, Schnell estimates the cost will be paid off in 18 years — “as long as we don’t get any more summers like this one,” he said. “After that it’s all free electricity.”
Schnell said his wife is purchasing an all-electric Nissan Leaf and he’s buying a Tesla, and they’ll install a charging outlet for the plug-in vehicles.
The more the sun shines, the more power the panels produce. On sunny summer days, customers said, the panels can produce much more power than is needed in the home.
In this case, customers said they send the power to the PUD for credits to be used when regular power is necessary.
“When it’s sunny, I’m making money,” Schnell said.
At night and in the winter, the panels generate less power.
Solar battery systems are available to store power for down times rather than put it back into the system, but that option was expensive, customers said.
The panels installed early this summer on Charles Hall Orthodontics in Stanwood more than covered the power needs for the office this summer, orthodontist Charles Hall said.
“During the day when we’re running, we’re actually off-loading power to the grid,” he said.
Hall and his wife, Ann Marie, paid $40,000 for the panels. They received about $11,000 from the federal government, $3,700 from the PUD and received an additional federal business tax credit of $11,000, reducing the cost to $14,300.
With these payments, the per-kilowatt hour payments from the state and reduced conventional power costs, the office’s electricity costs are covered by the solar panels, Ann Marie Hall said. She estimates the system will pay for itself in eight years.
The state pays at least 15 cents per kilowatt hour, about twice what the PUD charges.
“If the PUD raises the price of electricity, then our payout gets even better,” she said.
The Halls’ office and Schnells’ home have a lot of south-facing roof surface, making the systems productive. The Halls’ home, however, is shaded by trees, Ann Marie said, making it not worthwhile to install panels there.
Steven Greenebaum of Lynnwood has only a small section of roof that receives regular sun, but he wanted it covered with solar panels.
Greenebaum spent $16,000 to have the panels installed about three weeks ago. The PUD knocked off $700, and he’ll get another $4,800 off his federal taxes next year, dropping the cost to $10,500, not counting the state payment for kilowatt hours.
Since his system was installed, “I’m producing more (power) than I use,” he said.
Still, Greenebaum, a minister, said he’s not doing it for the money.
“The whole reason for doing this was a feeling that I need to contribute something to the planet,” he said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Learn more
The Snohomish County PUD invites the public to a meeting explaining its solar program, Solar Express, from noon to 1 p.m. today at the PUD Commission Room, 2320 California St., Everett.
Solar power incentives
Snohomish County PUD: Residential customers may receive up to $2,500, commercial customers up to $10,000 for solar power (photovoltaic) systems. For solar water-heating systems, the PUD pays $500 per system. Alternately, customers may choose to apply for a 2.9 percent loan of up to $14,000 to finance the system instead of the cash incentive.
Washington state: Payments of 15 to 54 cents per kilowatt hour for solar power generated, capped at $5,000 per year until June 30, 2020. Higher payments are made for systems manufactured in the state. Solar systems also are eligible for a sales tax refund until June 30, 2011.
Federal government: 30 percent off the cost of installation for residences and businesses. Extra tax credits are available for businesses. For more information go to www.dsireusa.org.
For more information on any of the incentives, go to http://tinyurl.com/PUDsolar.
