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Incentives and Tax Credits. Federal, state, and private incentives and tax credits exist to encourage the use of renewable energies. California is the leading state for incentives Incentives and tax credits are based on: Type of renewable energy technology The amount of electricity produced
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Incentives and Tax Credits • Federal, state, and private incentives and tax credits exist to encourage the use of renewable energies. • California is the leading state for incentives • Incentives and tax credits are based on: • Type of renewable energy technology • The amount of electricity produced • Size of the system www.DSIREUSA.org
Incentives in Vermont • Mainstay Energy is a private company, in New England, offering renewable energy system owners financial incentives. • Eligible technologies: • solar PV • wind • biomass • geothermal electric • hydroelectric
Pricing Example: 2kW System A 2 kW system can produce up to 3,000 kWh per year: • Cost before incentives $16,000 • Incentives ($9,450) • Net cost $6,550 • Annual utility bill savings $214 • Decrease in loan payments $456/yr. • Annual savings $658
Surplus Energy can be fed back to the grid in two main ways: Usually occurs with large scale energy producers. Eg. commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings • Wholesale price • Net metering
The Big ThreeUSA, Japan & Germany Japan and the USA are the two biggest exporters of PV cells and modules. Around 1.2 million solar thermal systems have been installed in the United States. 80% residential users. Germany is the leading PV market in 2003. About 20,000 solar electricity systems were installed, which yielded almost twice the volume installed in the previous year Over 90% of solar PV installations are in grid-tied applications in Germany (www.solarbuzz.com)
Japanese PV industry is the worlds largest and is growing rapidly Around 50% of the world's solar cell production is manufactured in Japan.
For those Who Need Convincing • Roof tile technology modules • Rolls (Thin Film) • Hazardous wastes are not a large threat • Silicon not intrinsically harmful
With anticipated technology: Multicrystalline 2-4 years Thin Film 1-3 years 87%-97% of the energy input and output in solar energy is non-polluting Production and transportation taken into account
If PV modules of 10% average efficiency on .1% of the Earth’s surface they would supply enough electricity for the world’s total energy load Start up cost high but running cost is low in comparison to other energy systems After installation PV arrays require no fuel PV arrays have little or no moving parts Require far less maintenance than other renewable energy systems