Solar water heating: Government Incentives
Installing a solar water heating system
A great way to save energy as well as save our planet. There are many government incentives to help pay for your new solar energy hot water system. Make sure to research when you are ready to install. These incentives won’t last forever and they do change often. Bookmark The Home Energy Roundup to get up to date information, when you need it.
The Federal government gives a 30% tax credit for installing solar power in your home. This is a great way to jump start recouping your costs of installing a new system. The good news doesn’t stop there. States and utilities also have great incentives as well.
To see what your state is offering for installing solar heating in your home, go to the dsire web site. There you will find a complete list of all states and what incentives they give. Some states give much more than others some do not have any incentives at all.
There are a couple of important things to research before purchasing a solar powered heating system. Do you have abundant sunshine? Check this map from the UNEP web site for a quick reference. Also be sure to check out your local zoning codes. There may rules on where you can locate your solar panels.
At the time this report was written there are 39 states that offer financial incentives for installing solar water heating. The amounts as well as the types of incentives these states offer differs from state to state. Most of the incentives come in the form of:
- Cash rebates
- Tax credits
- Tax deductions
- Sales tax incentives
- Property tax incentives
- Utility incentives
- Local options to provide tax incentives
Most states offer multiple incentives or a combination of two incentives such as direct cash and a tax credit. Here are a few terrific maps (from dsire site) showing what different states give as incentives. These are only broad examples make sure to do your research for your specific location. The dsire site has a tremendous amount of information.
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