The Garden State keeps getting greener with Solar Rebates & Solar Incentives in NJ
New Jersey has an admirable solar success story to tell. Ranked amongst the top 5 solar-powered states in the nation, the State demonstrates solar dominance due to acceptance of the pro-solar attributes and surplus monetary benefits.
The most important factor which encourages NJ to switch to solar is the high cost of residential electricity. The average residential electricity rate of 14.50¢/kWh in NJ is 32.83% greater than the national average residential rate of 11.88¢/kWh.
The benefits of Solar Rebates & Solar Incentives in NJ, help homeowners to avoid these high electricity rates and save money in their pockets by switching to a self-sustainable rooftop solar system. Solar panels help reduce the use of utility electricity and helps to offset electricity up to 98%.
New Jersey’s solar incentives are categorized into two core programs; one which compensates homeowners for the electricity produced by their solar panels and second, the rewards they receive for the clean characteristics of the power generated.
SOLAR INCENTIVES IN NJ
Net Metering: New Jersey’s net metering program makes the utility company compensate the homeowners for the excess energy produced by their solar panel system, which is fed to their grid. Net metering is lucrative because it allows homeowners maximize the return on their solar energy investments by selling the excess energy and savings on electricity bill with lower energy rates.
SREC’s/Performance-based Incentives: For every megawatt hour (MWh) of clean energy generated by the solar system, the owner is credited with 1 SREC. The owner can trade these SREC’s in the SREC trade market. NJ has a very strong RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standards) which mandates the utilities to have 22.5% of their energy from renewable sources by 2021. Defaulting, which they are liable to pay high fees. So, the utilities in NJ buy solar power generated from homeowners in the form of SRECs.
SOLAR PANEL TAX CREDITS:
Solar sales tax exemption – New Jersey offers sales tax exemptions to homeowners and businesses, which means that they would not have to pay any state sales tax on their solar panel system. That is an additional 7% savings for New Jersey homeowners.
Property Tax Exemption – Homeowners can evade property tax for installed solar systems which allows excluding the added value of the system during the valuation process of the property for taxation purpose. Solar Tax Credit (ITC) – Solar power rebates are incentives federal or state governments offer to reduce the upfront cost of going solar by 30%. This incentive applies to homeowners only who has purchased the solar system either by cash or on loan.
