What incentives are available to help defray capital expenditures?
Until recently, many solar systems were too costly to install. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, expands renewable energy incentives to businesses that install certain qualified “energy property” and place it into service by December 31, 2016. Taxpayers may claim either an investment tax credit or apply for a Treasury grant equal to 30% of energy property expenditures, including installation costs. In addition to providing incentives for wind, biomass, geothermal and fuel cells, the federal incentive includes all solar systems used to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat. Hybrid solar-lighting systems, which use solar energy to illuminate the inside of a structure using fiber-optic distributed sunlight, are also eligible. Alternatively, you could lower your initial investment costs by contracting with a solar supplier. For example, some facility owners have leased real property and hired
