Best Solar Incentives

     We're all interested in which states have the best solar incentives and we are also pretty curious about which states have the greatest amount of solar power already in use.  Well, here's that info. 

     Incentives for installing solar power vary widely across the United States. While some incentives are available from the federal government (including a federal tax credit of 30 percent for residential solar-electric systems) many other incentives are offered on the state level.

     The best place to find all the details about renewable energy incentives is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). Here’s a state-by-state list of all PV incentives, including those for large commercial projects as well as those available to homeowners.

     But looking specifically at incentives for homeowners, which states offer the most support for solar energy? For a quick visual comparison, there's a very helpful map from Solarinsure.com/solar-map .  You may also find the map on FindSolar.org and Cooler Planet more than a bit helpful.  It compares the costs and financial benefits of installing a PV system from state to state, factoring in rebates, tax incentives and the price paid for electricity.

Here are their top 10 states with the highest Solar Power Ratings:

    Louisiana

    Oregon

    Connecticut

    Massachusetts

    New York

    Hawaii

    North Carolina

    Wisconsin

    Illinois

    Minnesota

 States That Are Making It Happen

 

So here’s a quick pop quiz: When it comes to total installed solar power, one state is definitely leading the pack. Any idea which one?

To find out, we can take a look at this report from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) — it shows which states had installed the most megawatts of grid-connected PV power through 2008.  These numbers include both home-scale systems and larger, non-residential systems. There’s much more detail in the report about exactly how those numbers break down, but here are the top 10 states with the most installed PV systems:

    California

    New Jersey

    Colorado

    Nevada

    Arizona

    New York

    Hawaii

    Connecticut

    Oregon

    Massachusetts

Yep, California is No. 1 on this list, and it’s far ahead of any of the others. According to this report, California has 528 megawatts of installed solar power, New Jersey, the next closest state has only 70. So let’s take a closer look at California. This state is definitely in a naturally sunny part of the country. It also has strong solar incentives, although you wouldn’t notice that from the Cooler Planet Solar Power Rating (it comes in just under the radar at No. 11).

     If you’re a California resident, there are considerable online resources available at the Go Solar California website. But even if you’re not located anywhere near the West Coast, take a glance at this map of solar installations in San Francisco. You can check out the site’s case studies, or just take a moment to drool with envy at the uncommonly large number of PV systems.

This is just a small example of what you can find on the San Francisco site.  You have to check it out to really see how impressive it is.

If you want to check out more really great information, check out Mother Earth News, in their renewable energy section.  This is one of my favorite sites.