New Solar Program in Murrieta Offers Residents Extra Incentives and Perks

Solar energy is America’s fastest growing industry, increasing by 69 percent last year alone. New flexible financing options, reduced solar panel prices and better incentives are causing rapid growth and increased deployment of distributed generation solar-powered homes across the nation. Rebate programs range from the federal and state levels to the hyper-local, all with the aim of making solar accessible for all homeowners.

The decreased price in solar panels can be attributed to the Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit and the California Solar Initiative state rebate, which have helped change the value proposition of solar.

State rebates through the California Public Utilities Commission are currently still available through the California Solar Initiative. The incentives, however, are dwindling quickly and will eventually run out as the number of rebate reservations being submitted to the program continue to increase. The program is set up in 10-steps, and those who sign up first receive the highest incentives. In the Southern California Edison utility territory, the state rebate is in the eighth step and is currently at $0.35 per watt.

Another attractive incentive to owning a solar power system is the federal tax credit, which provides homeowners a one-to-one credit against tax liability for 30 percent of the out-of-pocket cost. That means, if a homeowner installs a $20,000 solar project, they will receive a 30 percent credit, which is equal to $6,000 payable in April of the following year. The credit is able to carry from year to year until fully exhausted and is expected to last through 2016.

Locally, the Murrieta Solar Program provides a solution to the problem of diminishing incentives. It offers up to 10 percent cash-back to all program participants. The Murrieta Solar Program is administered by Sullivan Solar Power, a local company that successfully completed similar programs in Temecula, Orange County and San Diego. The company is working to create a strong solar community within Murrieta by offering solar at no upfront cost with cash-back incentives. These incentives are higher than the state and federal rebates and accessible only to Murrieta residents. 

State and national rebates are available to all residents, but many are unaware that the funding is quickly diminishing as the number of reservations continues to increase. Additionally, the average incentive of the state rebate are far lower than the hyper-local Murrieta program.

For instance, in the Southern California Edison (SCE) utility territory, the state rebate is currently $0.35 per watt. For a 5,000-watt system, the average size of a solar system in Murrieta, the homeowner would receive $1,813 for their solar system from the state rebate. In comparison, the same size solar system could receive a rebate of up to $3,265 from the local Murrieta Solar Program.

I recently spoke with Murrieta Solar Program participant, Paul Kunert, who encourages his community members to take advantage of the solar program. “The Murrieta/Temecula Valley has the most sunlight hours in California and we can now take advantage of it with our new solar system,” he said. “Everyone should follow our community leaders and neighbors by going solar. This Murrieta Solar Program benefits our city as a whole.”

While all solar incentives available to homeowners have spurred the growth of renewable energy throughout our region and state, they will eventually come to an end. The Murrieta Solar Program incentive is the closest to our community, but the first to expire when it closes on August 20, 2012.

To learn more about how you can take advantage of the Murrieta Solar Program while these incentives are still available, visit www.MurrietaSolarProgram.org.