unisolar metal roofSolar Ownership has become more affordable in New Jersey and here’s proof; (Article provided by Global Home Improvement partner Drexel Metals)

An owner of a large commercial real estate company in NJ spending $ 3,500.00 on average in Mercer County called and wanted to offset 50% of their energy cost..we figured the following:

  • 12,500 SF of roof area – 124 KW system (DC) – total installed cost $ 1,100,000.00 including the Drexel Metal Roof System
  • This Drexel Metals Solar Roof System will generate the following; $ 1.2 million in SREC’s over 25 years projected system output, $ 334K federal tax credit at the same time producing 50% of their energy.
  • That’s a three year break even point
  • Projected CO2 Tons offset – about 3,000 tons
  • Project will be manufactured by a DM-ARM member, installed by a certified Drexel Metals/Global Home installer and SREC’s and paperwork will be handled by Energy C2 and Advanced Green Technologies!

Federal Renewable Energy Grants and Investment Tax Credits

Commercial:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1), enacted in February 2009, created a renewable energy grant program that will be administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury. This cash grant may be taken in lieu of the federal business energy investment tax credit (ITC).   The grant (Commercial only) is equal to 30% of the basis of the property for solar energy. Eligible solar-energy property includes equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat.  Source:  DSIRE Website

solar energy nj tax credits

Residential:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 does not allow taxpayers eligible for the residential renewable energy tax credit to receive a U.S. Treasury Department grant instead of taking this credit.     However, key revisions to the previous act included an eight-year extension of the credit to December 31, 2016, the ability to take the credit against the alternative minimum tax, and the removal of the $2,000 credit limit for solar-electric systems beginning in 2009. A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures.  Expenditures include labor costs for onsite preparation, assembly or original system installation, and for piping or wiring to interconnect a system to the home. If the federal tax credit exceeds tax liability, the excess amount may be carried forward to the succeeding taxable year.

Solar-electric property

  • There is no maximum credit for systems placed in service after 2008. The maximum credit is $2,000 for systems placed in service before January 1, 2009.
  • Systems must be placed in service on or after January 1, 2006, and on or before December 31, 2016.
  • The home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayer’s principal residence.

SRECs.  (Solar Renewable Energy Credits)
SREC stands for Solar Renewable Energy Certificate and is a tradable certificate that represents all the clean energy benefits of electricity generated from a solar electric system. Each time a solar electric system generates 1000kWh (1MWh) of electricity, an SREC is issued which can then be sold or traded separately from the power. This makes it easy for individuals and businesses to finance and invest in clean, emission free solar power.

New Jersey’s SREC program provides a means for solar certificates to be created, verified, tracked, sold to and eventually retired by electric suppliers to meet their solar RPS requirement.  Launched on June 25, 2004, New Jersey’s on-line marketplace for trading SRECs is the first of its kind in the world.    Once SRECs are credited to an individual’s account, the solar generator can use an electronic bulletin board on this website to let others know they have SRECs for sale.  Once a sale is transacted, the seller will use the website to transfer SRECs to the buyer. The price for an SREC is forecast to be approximately $611 for energy reporting year 2009 based upon supply and demand forecasts.