Tax Credit expires Dec. 31st!

Time is running out for you to take advantage of the federal energy conservation tax credit. This tax credit allows you to take 30% of installation costs, up to $1500, to make your home more energy efficient including items like insulation, sealing air conditioning ducts, air sealing and weather-stripping of the home. This tax credit, combined with the new APS and SRP Energy Star audit programs will pay for more than 60% of your homes Energy Star retrofit, if the work is done by December 31, 2010. So time is of the essence to take advantage of this credit. There is no legislation in place to extend the tax credit so it's a very real possibility that this credit will not be there next year.

This tax credit used to be 30% up to $500 maximum, but two years ago Congress tripled the amount of the credit up to $1500! This credit is crucial to setting up a very quick return on investment for steps to lower your utility bill, typically two years or less. I would encourage you to start with your first step, scheduling an APS/SRP Energy Audit. We have consultants that can come out and give you a FREE visual audit and let you know how much you would qualify for from APS or SRP depending on how thick your current insulation depth is, how much duct leakage is visible, and if there is any visible air sealing opportunities for your home.

The work has to be done this year before the 31st of December. So take your first step to significantly lowering your electric bill today and schedule your energy audit with the Phoenix Green Team. Simply click on our request your energy audit online link today. We have a few more installation dates available in December but time is running out. Thank you for reading our blog, and I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season!

Get Your SRP Incentive ASAP!

My name is Greg field and I've been working as a renewable energy consultant for the past three years in the Phoenix Arizona market. I wanted to talk to you about a very important subject, the APS and SRP utility solar electric incentive. The solar electric utility incentive has changed pretty dramatically in the past year. Both APS and SRP started the year with higher incentives than they currently offer. The APS incentive started at $3.00 a watt and the SRP incentive was at $2.70 a watt.

In the past, both companies were motivated by a renewable energy standard requirement that states, by the year 2025, 15% of their client energy has to come from some sort of renewable energy. Unfortunately, the minimum requirement was so low for Arizona, in comparison to other states, that we found both SRP and APS have had more than enough renewable energy incentive requests which could actually de-incentivize the incentive without having to pay more for every noble energy credit when APS and SRP help you pay for a solar electric system. Essentially, they're buying a renewable energy credit, or certificate, for typically 20 years, where they own the renewable production of your system, and that helps them offset potential fines from things like cap and trade as well as help them meet their minimum renewable requirement standard by the year 2025. Both utility companies have substantially reduced their incentives. APS reduced their incentive from $3.00 a watt in January down to $2.15 a watt and SRP has reduced their incentive from $2.70 down to $2.15. This has dramatically reshaped and extended the return on investment for both APS and SRP customers.

SRP clients should be aware that because APS has dropped their incentive down to $1.75 a watt SRP is likely to follow suit and drop their incentive very quickly. Solar installers have been waiting for the last few weeks for SRP to drop their incentive and match the APS incentive. This is why it is critical, if you are an SRP customer and looking at putting in a solar electric system this year, to make sure you get your SRP incentive request in as soon as possible. This incentive change may happen as soon as the beginning of October and would mean the difference of about $2,000 towards the purchase of your solar electric system.

Our state really needs to change this renewable requirement from a minimum of 15% by the year 2025 and to a minimum of 20% - 25%. With a higher renewable requirement for Arizona, both APS and SRP will have the motivation to keep the incentives at a higher level and encourage more people, not less, to put solar electric systems into their homes and drive the market with a sustainable approach.

Solar hot water is a completely different ballgame. The incentives are much lower. SRP and APS will pay a one time incentive of $.50 a kilowatt hour saved annually based on the SRCC rating of the system. Because the solar hot water incentive is a much lower incentive request than solar electricity, both APS and SRP programs have remained fairly consistent. However, APS did drop their incentive this past summer from $.75 a kilowatt down to $.50 a kilowatt hour.

It's imperative that we ask our state legislators for a higher renewable energy minimum standard so that both SRP and APS are motivated to give more money to solar, not less, and to keep the market so that our state can truly be a global solar leader.