Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Thermal Solar Power.... Afforable?.

Enjoying the benefits from our Home Solar system we have decided to look into Thermal Solar. Now Thermal Solar is for producing Hot water. Heating your Hot water really takes a lot of Electric energy. Figure for a typical home water tank about 800.00 a year. By investing in a Thermal Solar system that figure can go as low as 100.00 a year. With the incentives both Federal, State and County for cost can be affordable.
The average cost the a Thermal Solar system can be between 6,000 and 10,000 dollars. The Federal will give a Tax credit of 30% of that cost. State of Maryland will give 30% of the installed cost up to $2,000 maximum grant. Our county will give a property tax credit of 1,500.00. So as you can see this can reduce the cost of the Thermal Solar system. On a 6,000.00 unit it would cost 4,200 dollars initially because the grant money is sent to you via check. Then at tax time your federal tax return would be 1,800 dollars more if you get a return. If you pay taxes then 1,800 dollars would be applied to your amount owed, making you have to pay less of out your pocket. The Property tax credit will be applied to your home taxes owed. The bottom line is you pay less in taxes and reap more in Home energy cost savings. So that 6,000.00 thermal solar system will cost you, less the grants and credit, 900.00 and it will pay for itself in less than 18 months. With the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) even less time! These RECs are sold every year by you or a company you choose, to the highest bidder and then you receive the money. It can vary depending on the market. However the Market is very strong for the RECs at this time. You can lock in an amount with a company.
We will decided on which company to go with. Our install window is for Late August. One More Green energy move for us. Working toward reducing the Carbon Imprint.

1 comment: