11 x 230W Siliken Panels, Enphase Microinverters
Well, it’s all up and connected; just need a couple inspections and some new meters. And a little more work in the panel… I’ll have to do a writeup of the whole process at some point. All in all, it went pretty well I think.
Not only the process, but the costs would be nice to know too :)
(the recaptcha for this comment was “hyping them”)
Yeah, I’ll put cost info up too.
But for the quick hit: It’s a 2.53kW system that came in at just under $7/watt installed. There were cumulative $4.25/watt rebates ($2 from the state, $2.25 from the utility) and the 30% federal tax credit on what’s left. I don’t have the final numbers yet, but it’s roughly $17,000 gross, and $5,000 net for my costs. Pretty amazing.
$2/watt after rebates is a great deal!
Very nice system — and very good price. Is it really going to be $2 per watt out of pocket? Wow! Also, jealous of the micro-inverters…
Is it really going to be $2 per watt out of pocket?
Well, I got the system at $6.84/watt with $4.25/watt total rebate – $2.59/watt is left for me to pay, and there’s a 30% federal tax credit on that amount, so 70% of $2.59/watt is $1.81/watt.
I know, amazing…. there seems to be some confusion over when the federal tax credit applies, but the consensus seems to be that it is on what’s left after the rebates. I’m also not 100% certain whether either the state or utility rebate amounts are taxable, so that could raise the final price a bit, tax-wise. Unfortunately my tax-preparer doesn’t seem 100% certain either…
You may have had a definitive answer on this from elsewhere, but I carefully researched the (Federal – I can’t answer for any State other than Illinois) tax/rebate situation for my installation, and the answer seems to ba as follows:
If the property on which the solar system is installed is a business, the rebates are treated as income to the business (and are therefore taxable) but the _whole_ of the cost is eligible for the Federal Tax Credit.
If the property is a private household, the rebates are not taxable, but it is the net cost (after deducting the rebates) that is eligible for the Tax Credit. For most people/small businesses, the two ways of doing things would actually result in similar tax outcomes, but the business approach seems to have confused a number of householders and bloggers into believing that a householder can claim the gross amount for credit _without_ declaring the rebates as income, which doesn’t work, or at least not if you are caught!
Peter, yep that’s about what I had come up with as well. Subtract the (non-taxable) rebates, take the tax credit on what’s left.
Even my installer was a little confused, their initial proposal had me “double dipping” – I must admit the bottom line looked good but I don’t think the IRS would have been happy!