PA Announces Solar Rebate Program!

Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel Inquirer Staff Photographer

Pennsylvania may not be the “Sunshine State” but there is plenty of solar money for Keystoners who install the latest in solar and PV laminates.

Rebates of up to 35 percent are available on a first-come, first-served basis to owners of homes and small businesses looking to offset the cost of buying and installing solar-energy systems.

“This is a great day for Pennsylvanians who care about saving money over the long run, who care about creating the new green-energy jobs that President Obama talks so much about, and who care about the quality of our air and the future of our environment,” Rendell said.

Rendall began his remarks on May 21st, 2009 shortly after 11 a.m. the former Mayor of Philadelphia and now Governor of Pennsylvania made his remarks in a familiar area, close to home and with eager solar contractors paying close attention.

The PA legislature has approved $100 million for the rebate program.

Despite a battered economy and a workforce on edge over sharply rising unemployment, Rendell said he believed Pennsylvanians would claim every cent of the $100 million – “and . . . fairly quickly.” He cited a number of reasons – among them the fact that the new state rebate, along with federal tax credits of up to 30 percent, would enable Pennsylvanians to get as much as a 50 percent break on the cost of a solar-energy system.

The price of an average 5-kilowatt residential unit is $35,000 to $40,000. Experts say that investment will be recouped in eight to 10 years – through reduced energy costs and from selling unused power into the grid and alternative energy credits to utilities.

Another impetus to going solar now, Rendell said, is the likely event of double-digit rate increases by utilities when state caps are lifted in 2011.

Actual funding for the solar-rebate portion of Rendell’s $650 million Alternative Energy Funding Act did not come until last month. Although trailing New Jersey and Maryland in announcing the state’s solar program, it couldn’t come at a more opportune time, with a bright future for the Green Economy and a bright sunny forecast for Memorial Day Weekend.