The best way to show you how to use the rebates and programs offered is to take you step by step through a hypothetical customer who wants to find out what rebates he is eligible for.

Situation:
For our example our proud homeowner will be Bob. His goal is to find and use as many green building methods as he can. The most recent project Bob wants to pursue is the installation of solar panels on his home. Bob is very excited about purchasing a new solar system for his home because he knows that a solar system will provide him with a renewable source of electricity that does not pollute the environment.

The only problem is Bob does not know where to begin because he has heard it is expensive, but also that there are rebates for some people??? Bob does not want to be talked into installing something that he can not afford so instead he goes online to find out what kind of rebates he will qualify for. That way he can install the system himself and apply for rebates or be sure the contractor he hires is not lying to him about his out of pocket cost.

Gather information
Before he looked up information about grants, refunds and tax credits Bob new he needed to collect some information together about his circumstances.
-Bob is married with 2 kids and lives in Costa Mesa, Ca
-Bob makes approximately 75,000 a year before taxes.
-His home is currently valued at 330,000 dollars with 1.5% property tax.
-His average energy use is approximately 23KW hours of electricity per day.
-His electric company is Southern California Edison.

First of all he knew he was looking for Federal, State and local incentives, plus he knew not to overlook the Incentives from his utility company.

After searching for several hours through endless websites all he can seem to find are advertising banners giving him promise after promise with no facts or information. Then after almost giving up he finally finds a legitimate website that provides the concrete information he is looking for.

The site Bob found is legitimate and very informative, but there is to much information to sift through so lets take a look at how Bob found what he is eligible for.

Procedure:

1. First open up two internet pages side by side so you can follow the procedure as you go through the process. Do this by right clicking on this link and saying open new window. If you do not have enough room to open two windows then just keep two windows open and switch back and forth.

2. In one of the two windows now click on this link to go to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.

3. Now click on your state.

4. Yes there are a lot of links but do not be overwhelmed. First click the third link from the top that says See Homeowners Incentive Summaries Only.

5. Looking for your city or county in the title is key, do not bother with the others if you want to save time.

6. Now just start going through the headings one by one, but first get a piece of paper so you can write down what each program will help you do. This way after you have gone through them all you can total up the actual savings you are eligible for.

7. Shop around for the right solar panel installation company. Looking them up online is a great way to compare what rates they can offer you. Also, there is no harm in using there system size and cost estimators. In fact use the websites against each other and find out what the average recommended size is for your home so you do not overbuy.

8. Read the Important Notes below, they will help you be a knowledgeable buyer and keep you from being taken advantage of. Lots of contractors may tell you you qualify for thousands of dollars of tax credits but unless there numbers match yours be extremely suspicious. Read the Notes below.





Important Notes


1. How tax deductions work:
A tax deduction of 5,000 dollars does not mean you are going to receive 5,000 dollars!!! It works like this, if you make 75,000 before taxes you are normally taxed on 75,000 (minus standard deductions) so you would currently pay about 15,000 to the federal government. Now with a tax deduction of 5,000 you will only be taxed on 70,000. So now you would pay 14,000 to the federal government. You see you only saved 1,000 dollars with a 5,000 tax deduction. If your household income is higher you will save more of that possible 5,000 but you will never save 5,000. Do not let contractors take the total cost of your installation and then minus 5,000 dollars from the total by using a 5,000 tax deduxtion.

2. The max power of your solar system
Do you expect your car to get the manufactures claimed mpg??? Then why do you think your solar system will generate the maximum power possible when it is installed on your roof??? No solar system you buy will ever achieve its best test data results on your roof, the manufacturer is not lying, they just test there equipment under ideal conditions which you will never have. You can maximize the effectiveness of your solar panels but do not let anyone do cost benefit analysis over 20 years while using the manufacturers listed performance.

3. The useful life of your solar system
Not only will your solar system not run at manufacturer specs, it will also get worse over the years. Depending on the type of solar panels you purchase the effectiveness of the solar panels will degrade with time. after 10 years you are looking at around 80% of its best performance on your roof, not 80% of manufacturers specs. After 20 years 70% if they still function. See warranties below.

4. Solar Panel Warranties
Do not buy or install a system that takes longer to pay off than the warranties that it comes with!!!!! If possible allow at least a 3 year gap from the time the system pays for itself to until the manufacture warranty runs out.

5. Find ways to reduce power consumption
Before you buy a massive 8KW per hour solar system make sure you have reduced your electricity needs as much as possible. If you can reduce power consumption then you can buy a cheaper system. Click here for some ideas on saving energy.

Please feel free to comment below or add on suggestions or tips that you have.

Blessings,
Aviad