As a business looking to go solar in the US, the best incentives available to you are tax incentives. Between the investment tax credit (ITC)–which works the same for businesses as it does for homeowners–and depreciation benefits at both the state and federal level, you can expect to receive half of what you pay for solar back as tax benefits. While the ITC has been around for a long time, and its success is well documented, bonus depreciation is a newer incentive that can provide nearly as large of a tax benefit as the ITC.
Continue readingSolar panel maintenance
Worried about solar panels and hail? Fret not! Solar panel systems are incredibly durable and require little to no maintenance over their productive lifetime, which can span 25 years or more. In the event that something does go wrong, your solar PV system components have very long warranties that would cover replacement and repair costs. If you lease your solar panel system, repairs and maintenance are the leasing company’s responsibility, not yours.
Continue readingSolar panel cleaning: the basics
It may be a good idea to freshen up your panels occasionally if you live in an area with heavy particulates in the air. Here are answers to some of the top questions solar panel system owners have about cleaning solar panels and how to do it safely.
Continue readingCalifornia home battery rebate: Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) explained
(Update: California’s Governor Brown signed SB 700. This adds approximately $800 million in additional funding for SGIP and extends the program through 2025.)
California’s SGIP rebate is one of the best incentives in the country for homeowners who want to install a home battery with their solar panels. The Golden State already leads the country in solar energy – it has more solar capacity than any other state in the U.S., and nearly six times more solar than number-two state Arizona. Now, California is becoming a leader in energy storage. Thanks to the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) you can get a rebate for most or all of your solar battery installation in California, and it’s about to become a lot easier for homeowners to access. Here’s everything you need to know about the SGIP rebate.
Battery warranties: what you need to know
Similar to your laptop or cell phone battery, solar batteries degrade over time: as you continue to use and charge your battery, it loses the ability to hold a charge. Fortunately, solar battery manufacturers provide warranties that guarantee the performance of a battery to a certain level. In this article, we’ll dive into what matters in a solar battery warranty, and how some of the top solar batteries – Tesla Powerwall 2, LG Chem RESU 10H, and sonnen eco – stack up.
Continue readingSolar news: June 25th, 2021
In this week’s news roundup, we discuss an important proposal in US regulatory policy towards solar and a new study on the cost of solar versus that of fossil fuels
Continue readingThe HEAT Loan Program: energy efficiency financing in Massachusetts
Investing in energy efficiency upgrades for your home is not only one of the easiest ways to decrease your carbon footprint; it’s also one of the best ways to save money on utility bills. However, despite the clear benefits, some homeowners hesitate to install air source heat pumps, add insulation to their home, or switch to solar hot water technologies because of anticipated upfront costs. Fortunately, this isn’t much of an obstacle in the Bay State: thanks to Mass Save, homeowners throughout Massachusetts can finance these projects at 0 percent interest with the HEAT Loan Program.
Continue readingCybersecurity: why it’s important for your solar panel system
In May 2021, the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline made headlines across the country. After Colonial shut down their pipelines, gasoline shortages rapidly drove up the price of gasoline and spurred panic buying at fuel stations, particularly across hard-hit southern states. With cyberattacks on energy infrastructure increasing in frequency and severity, many are starting to wonder: what else could be at risk?
Unfortunately, the energy sector has already seen serious cyberattacks in the past–which could be an indicator of future risk. In 2015, Ukraine experienced the first known cyberattack on the power grid, which caused outages at 30 substations throughout the country and left about 230,000 people without electricity for up to six hours. People with solar-plus-storage systems would typically have the benefit of grid resiliency in such a situation and would be able to keep the power running–however, solar systems are not entirely immune to the risk of cyberattacks without proper protections.
Continue reading4 reasons to join a community solar program
Community solar is quickly becoming a hit in the renewable energy industry. Many people hear the pitch and think, “Really? This is too good to be true”…and honestly, we get it. But truthfully, there are a lot of good reasons to join a community solar program – here are four of them to start:
Continue readingWe read Aptos Solar Technology’s warranty so you don’t have to
Let’s face it – warranties aren’t the easiest (or most gripping) documents to read. There are often a lot of details and fine print included that can be hard to digest, leaving many to wonder: what does the warranty actually cover? Am I vulnerable? Anything I might be missing?
To make it as easy as possible, we’ve read warranty documents for the top solar equipment manufacturers–and talked to them to confirm what is and isn’t included–and plan to point out the most important aspects of each in a series of articles. In this article, we are reviewing the warranty of Aptos Solar Technology, a solar manufacturer based in Silicon Valley.
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