Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine, Summer 2011
[Companion article to Green Guide: Yes We All Shine On]
The following solar programs and rebates* are currently available to local homeowners. (Think of watts as capacity and kilowatt-hours as usage, or watts multiplied by time.)
Federal Programs
(administered locally)
EnergySmart Residential Energy-Efficiency loan and rebate programs:
- $1 rebate per kilowatt-hours of estimated energy savings for efficiency improvements, or micro-loans to cover installation costs.
State Programs
Residential Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficiency rebate programs:
- $1.50 to $2.50 rebate per watt for installed photovoltaic (PV) systems, up to $10,000.
Utility Programs
Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards program:
- $1.75 to $2 rebate per watt for installed PV systems, and/or 4 to 15 cents per kilowatt-hours, depending on the system’s size.
City of Boulder Programs
Property-tax exemptions:
- 100 percent of the cost of PV installation is exempted from property-tax calculations.
Solar-sales and use-tax rebates:
- 15 percent rebate on sales and use tax for PV installations.
ClimateSmart Solar rebate, grant and loan programs:
- Rebates: see the solar-sales and use-tax rebates.
- Loans: currently on hold, according to the city of Boulder’s website.
- Grants: eligibility restrictions apply; next round of applications are due Aug. 16; no maximum amount, but typically funds 50 percent of installation costs after rebates, incentives and tax credits are applied.
*Information is based primarily on the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy.
—Peter Bronski
