How do I access city, state, or federal incentives for solar?
GoSolarSF
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission administers the GoSolarSF incentive program for San Francisco residents, businesses, and nonprofits. Residents can get up to $2000 and adders for low-income or using a local contractor, businesses up to $10,000, and nonprofits can get up to $120,000 . An outline of these rebate amounts and the application process is available at solarsf.org.
California Solar Initiative
The state’s incentive for solar PV has been so successful that the funding is nearly depleted. The good news is that the CSI—Thermal program for solar water heating is just now getting underway and offers very attractive incentives that can reduce the cost of installing a solar water heating system by over 50%! For more information, please visit pge.com/csithermal.
Federal Tax Credit + Accelerated Depreciation
A 30% federal tax credit is currently available through 2016 for both residential and commercial solar energy systems in the form of the Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit and Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The tax credit is applied to the net cost after other rebates or grants have reduced the initial system cost. Furthermore, under the federal Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS), businesses may recover renewable energy investments through depreciation deductions. More information on solar incentives can be found at dsireusa.org.