What Does Solar Cost?
Solarize Washington allows homeowners and businesses to tap into lowered upfront costs through program participation. Solarize Washington packages existing federal and state incentives with a unique Solarize discount. With this discount, most program participants are able to recoup approximately 50% of their cost within one year! Here's how it breaks down:
| The Solarize Discount: group purchase brings down the cost of a solar system |
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The Solarize discount is a result of the installation efficiencies made possible by Solarize Washington. Solar installers are able to offer significant group discounts on the purchase and installation of solar systems through the program's focus on increased participant education, neighborhood outreach, and economies of scale. Solarize discounts average between 10-20%, depending on the campaign. |
| Washington State Sales Tax Exemption: no sales tax on purchase + installation of solar system |
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When you purchase a solar system sized below 10 kilowatts (most residential systems), your purchase is exempt from state sales tax. This incentive expires June 30, 2013 -- making now the time to Solarize your home or business! |
| Federal Tax Credit: 30% off total system cost |
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The federal government provides a tax credit to cover 30% of the total installed cost of your solar system. If you do not have the tax appetite to take the entire 30% credit in the first year, the remaining credit can be rolled over to your next tax return. This incentive expires December 31, 2016. |
| Washington State Production Incentive: $0.15-54 per kilowatt-hour produced by your solar system |
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Washington State has established an annual production incentive that pays you for every kilowatt-hour of energy your solar system produces, regardless of how much of that energy you use in your home. Through the production incentive, you receive $0.15 per kilowatt-hour produced if your system is manufactured outside of Washington, and $0.54 per kilowatt-hour if your system is fully manufactured within Washington. If you're a Seattle City Light customer, that means you're getting paid up to six times more to produce energy than you would otherwise be paying to purchase energy from the utility. This annual incentive expires June 30, 2020. |
| Net Metering: retail value for the energy you send into the grid |
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When your home isn't using the energy that your solar system is producing, that energy flows into the electric grid, spinning your meter backwards and thereby lowering your electric bill. Your utility keeps track of your "net" energy use -- that is, how much you pull out of the grid compared to how much you put back into it. At the end of a billing period, if your production exceeds your consumption, the utility credits your account accordingly at retail value. This incentive does not expire. |
So, what does this all mean? When combined with the federal tax credit, the state production incentive, and utility net metering, the Solarize discount allows most participants to recoup approximately 50% of the cost of their solar system within one year!
After year one, your solar system continues to pay itself back through the annual benefit accrued via the state production incentive and utility net metering.
