"A rooftop solar system is expensive - the average for a home in Massachusetts is around $33,500.... The rebates were financed by surcharges utilities and electricity customers pay to the state.... rebates that averaged more than $13,000"
That means YOU, taxpayers!
And HOW MANY have the SPARE CHANGE to erect on of them at that cost, 'eh?
Related: Wealthy Responsible For Global Warming
And they are the only ones getting the TAX BREAK, 'eh?
"$68m in solar rebates goes fast; State readying new plan for Jan." by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | December 1, 2009
Massachusetts is burning through money for solar projects.
A $68 million state fund to provide sizable rebates to homeowners and business owners who install solar panels was expected to last three or four years. But the program - offering homeowners rebates that averaged more than $13,000 - proved so popular that the $68 million was tapped out in October, just 22 months after the program began.
Pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming demand, Massachusetts officials are developing a successor to the original program, dubbed Commonwealth Solar, and hope to have it ready by Jan. 1. Officials are trying to make the new subsidies as generous as the original ones.
“There’s a lot of folks that would just like more rebates,’’ said Philip Giudice, head of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. “This is really about finding ways to make this work by using public dollars as preciously as we possibly can.’’
Details on the new program may be available as early as next week, as state officials wrap up four months of hearings and meetings with solar installers, environmental activists, utility companies, and others about the terms. Among the last matters to be decided is how much utilities will be required to help finance the subsidies.
Commonwealth Solar was the first phase of Governor Deval Patrick’s initiative to have 250 megawatts of solar-generating capacity installed in Massachusetts by 2017 - enough to power at least 37,500 homes. The rebates were financed by surcharges utilities and electricity customers pay to the state....
A rooftop solar system is expensive - the average for a home in Massachusetts is around $33,500 - so the subsidy was the deciding factor for many.
Yes, you are SUBSIDIZING the RICH, Bay-Staters, with YOUR TAX DOLLARS while SERVICES are CUT!!
“The project is really not doable for the typical homeowner without the rebate,’’ said Joel Frisch, who is planning to install a 4.8-kilowatt system at his Clinton home, funded in part with a $15,120 rebate approved by state officials last week.
Not if you don't have $30,000 dollars on hand!
Frisch’s solar project would cost about $32,000, but with the rebate and federal and state tax incentives, he is hoping to bring his out-of-pocket costs down to around $12,000. At that amount, his installer estimated his payback period - the time it takes to recover his expenses through reduced electricity bills - will be nine years.
JUST REMEMBER WHERE the "rebate" came from!
“I’d like to reduce my utility costs, and I thought solar was a really good way to do it,’’ said Frisch, an environmental scientist.
Oh, the agenda-pusher got a taxpayer rebate, isn't that great?
Liz Augustine used the rebate to install a solar system at her Maynard home this spring. “On a really sunny summer day, it will pay for all the electric use of the house,’’ she said.
One wonders why the government didn't spring for a bailout and equip everyone with solar panels.
After all, it is YOUR MONEY, taxpayers!!!
In general, installers said a typical system will provide about 50 percent of the electricity a household uses over the course of the year, taking into account weather variations, size of the house, and how many appliances and electronic devices are running. The size of the residential rebate fluctuated, depending on an applicant’s income, home value, and additional criteria, such as whether the system used components that were made in Massachusetts....
Meanwhile, bigger installations at business and industrial sites account for a large percentage of the electricity that will be generated by the program. These systems can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. By early October, Commonwealth Solar had funded 208 commercial projects, or 10.3 megawatts worth of generating power, with an average rebate of $138,455.
Yup, you are SUBSIDIZING BUSINESS, too!
Quite a LARGE CHECK, isn't it?
North Andover installer Nexamp received a roughly $250,000 rebate to install 550 solar panels on the roof of NewStream LLC’s industrial recycling building in Attleboro several weeks ago. Nexamp owns the panels and is selling NewStream the power they generate. The 110-kilowatt system is expected to provide the recycling company with a third of the power for its wastewater cleansing process....
Yeah, it ALL SOUNDS GREAT, doesn't it, taxpayers and ratepayers?
Nexamp vice president Jon Abe said he expects to recoup the project costs in five or six years. The estimates on payback periods vary, from a handful of years to more than a decade. Massachusetts has high electric rates, which helps accelerate the payback time for an alternative source of power.
It is called a TRANSFER of LOOT from YOUR WALLET to THEIR BOTTOM LINE, dear fellow citizens.
But this is also a northern climate, with limited sunlight and a long winter providing fewer solar opportunities. A spate of bad weather will reduce the system’s efficiency.
Oh, NOW we hear about ALL the PROBLEMS!!
But NOT for LONG!
The next state solar program will differ from the first in one important way: It will include a credit-based system, in which utilities will be required to buy electricity credits from residents and businesses with solar panels. The price of credits will help determine the subsidy.
Ever hear of a SHELL GAME, readers?
Massachusetts officials also expect to provide a traditional rebate for homeowners, to be financed by surcharges that electric customers already pay to a state renewable energy fund.
You must have a BOTTOMLESS WALLET, taxpayers!
Solar installers say a credit-based system is more predictable than a rebate program, which can run out of money. Unlike one-shot rebates, credits renew each year, providing solar owners with ongoing funds to reduce their costs.
I would at least hope they say thank you after f***ing you in the ass.
Installers said they have often seen ambitious solar programs in other states run out of steam once the government exhausted its rebate money.
“It is a tremendous success that Massachusetts has created a good volume of solar deals faster than they thought they would,’’ said Jeff Wolfe, of Vermont-based installer groSolar. “The unfortunate thing is that what happens a little too often is that as the solar industry is really getting going and having a great success - wham! Funds are expended.’’
Not so with a credit system, which installers say is unlikely to disappear unexpectedly. “If it’s all done right,’’ Wolfe said, “it should bring stability to the market place for a number of years.’’
Nope, once tax loot starts flowing somewhere it never stops.
State gets it done quick, too.
So why must you always wait for the things you want, citizens?
"State offering fresh rebates for solar panels" by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | December 30, 2009
State officials yesterday unveiled a successor to the popular rebate program that made solar energy panels more affordable for Massachusetts homeowners and businesses.
The $68 million Commonwealth Solar fund - originally expected to last three or four years - ran out in October after 22 months, forcing the state to fast-track the next step for the program.
So WHO "FORCED" the state, Bay-Staters?
When are they going to be FORCED to stop interests payments to banks, funding biotech and green losers, cutting checks for profitable Hollywood, and feathering their own nests?
Related: Those Are the (Tax) Breaks in Massachusetts
So when is the state going to be "forced" to fund your services, readers?
And WHERE DID ALL THOSE TAX INCREASES GO!?
That will include a state-funded rebate for small and mid-size solar installations, as well as a so-called solar credit program to help pay for solar projects of all sizes.
The idea is to get “as much done with as little public money as possible,’’ said Philip Giudice, head of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources....
You saw the size of the checks being cut above for PEOPLE WHO DO NOT NEED THEM!
Maybe YOU COULD AFFORD ONE if you were not PAYING TAXES to SUBSIDIZE SOMEONE who DOESN'T NEED IT, huh?
Under the new program, Giudice said, the state will provide $4 million a year, or $1 million per quarter, in rebates....
From YOUR POCKET to THEIR WALLET, Bay-Stater!
An additional $8 million in stimulus funds - a one-time deal - will be used to provide rebates....
Is that CREATING ANY JOBS?
Yeah, you have been looted, 'murkn!
Unlike the previous phase of Commonwealth Solar, which had an end date, this phase of the program will “exist for the foreseeable future,’’ said Ian Bowles, secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Bowles said he doesn’t think solar projects will need to be subsidized for much longer, however. Though expensive - the average cost of a residential solar project in Massachusetts is about $33,500 - installation costs have been dropping. “You’re going to see in the next five years that solar will no longer need any sort of specialized incentive program,’’ Bowles said.
But it will exist for the foreseeable future!
And why must an "incentive" be provided to people to do the RIGHT THING, huh?
Yesterday, at least one solar installation company welcomed the state’s follow-up to Commonwealth Solar. Steve Black, a project developer for Borrego Solar, which has offices in Lowell and in California, said the program will keep the Massachusetts solar industry invigorated....
Yeah, for you-know-who, readers!
--more--"
Related: Evergreen Grows Tall in China
Yeah, that is real invigorating.
Hey, why not PUT 'EM UP YOURSELF, American?
"The rectangular panels retail at $893 a piece"
Oh.
And you need how many?
"Selling solar panels for the handy; Lowe’s makes bid for do-it-yourself energy savers" by Chris Kahn, Associated Press | December 10, 2009
NEW YORK - Solar technology is going where it has never gone before: onto the shelves at retail stores where do-it-yourselfers can now plunk a panel into a shopping cart and bring it home to install.
Lowe’s has begun stocking solar panels at its California stores and plans to roll them out across the country next year. This shows how far the highest of the high-tech alternative energy technologies has come. Solar power is now accessible to anyone with a ladder, a power drill, and the gumption to climb up on a roof and install the panels themselves.
Aren't they forgetting $omething?
For Lowe’s, it’s an opening into a new and potentially lucrative DIY business....
I thought this was ABOUT the ENVIRONMENT and the EARTH, not BUSINESS!!!!
Buyer be warned, however.
I KNEW there was a CATCH!
The DIY part of solar goes beyond installation. Professional installers typically handle all the necessary paperwork, like clearance from the local utility and applications for a bevy of government subsidies that can make the system a whole lot cheaper.
What a LIE!
It ONLY MAKES it CHEAPER for THOSE RIPPING OFF TAXPAYERS!!!!!
“You put solar panels on your roof without a permit, bad things happen to you,’’ said Jeff Wolfe, chief executive of solar installer groSolar. “The utility could shut off the power.’’
Un-f***ing-real!
What an AGENDA-PUSHING PoS this article is, huh?
For anyone willing to tackle the paperwork, Akeena Solar promises a hassle-free installation that will immediately reduce the power you need to buy from the local utility.
If you get the clearances and permission from them!
The rectangular panels retail at $893 a piece....
Each Akeena panel will generate about 175 watts of electricity, about enough to power a flat screen television.
PFFFFFFFTTTT!!!!
That isn't going to solve anyone's electricity problems!
If you want more solar power, you can snap another panel to the first, kind of like Legos.
At $900 a pop.
Sorry, that is going towards the mortgage before I have no roof on which to put the panel.
“People might want to put up one, see if it works. Then with their next paycheck, they may buy four more,’’ CEO Barry Cinnamon said.
Do YOU make $3,600 dollars a week, readers?
Oh, right, this IS NOT FOR YOU! You are just THOUSAND DOLLAR SUBSIDIES for the wealthy people buying them!
Lowe’s is offering software that allows the homeowner to monitor the performance of each panel through the Internet. The panels are designed to withstand rough weather including hail storms, and they’re backed with a 25-year warranty covering defects.
Who cares? I can't afford them even with a taxpayer kickback.
Cinnamon, who mounted the panels on his own home in San Francisco (though he hired a contractor to do the electrical work), said homeowners can save a few thousand dollars, depending on the size of the system, by skipping a professional installer.
By not buying them at all.
Rival home improvement store Home Depot did offer solar panels briefly this year as part of a pilot project, but those were developed for professional contractors and DIYers with a higher level of technical expertise. The system offered by Lowe’s is new territory for solar, putting a small system in reach of almost anyone.
This is TRULY SAD, readers!
What an ELITIST, AGENDA-PUSHING PoS this article is!
“That’s going to grab a whole lot of people who never thought of solar in their home,’’ said Norman Deschamps, an independent analyst for SBI who specializes in the retail market for energy efficient renovations. “The walk-in market is fundamentally new.’’
And just how are you going to get the panel home?
--more--"
And LOOK WHAT HAPPENS when you GET ONE UP!
"Calif. homeowners divided over solar panels; Some residents file lawsuits to install devices" by Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times | December 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Ready to chuck his electric bills, Camarillo, Calif., resident Marc Weinberg last year asked his homeowners association for permission to put solar panels on his roof.
When the Spanish Hills Homeowners Association said no, Weinberg sued the group. Under the state’s Solar Rights Act, he argued, a homeowners association cannot unreasonably block solar installations. Weinberg won, and the homeowners association was ordered to not only permit the solar panels but also to cover the tens of thousands of dollars that Weinberg spent on legal fees.
Oh, I'll bet he is real popular in town.
Since last fall, when he installed a double row of matte black panels, three other homes in the hilltop neighborhood of luxury estates have added panels. “We didn’t set out to be green activists,’’ said Weinberg, 39, a real-estate lawyer . “That’s not where we’re coming from. We honestly looked at it from a financial standpoint.’’
Given the religious ethnicity, I'm not surprised.
Whether motivated by pocketbook or environmentalism, similar battles between homeowner groups and property owners are cropping up in California and other states as the installation of solar energy systems becomes more affordable and utility costs rise.
And AS CALIFORNIA GOES, so goes the nation!
Homeowner boards insist that they are protecting property values by enforcing rules that govern everything from paint color to how early trash bins can be set out for collection. But residents say their right to invest in alternative energy trumps the sensibilities of neighbors who don’t like the way the panels look.
But if it is a windmill.... !!!!!
Results of the battles have been mixed even as the nation is being urged by the Obama administration to embrace alternative energy.
Marty Griffin, a Santa Clarita homeowner, put solar panels up despite his homeowners association’s rejection of his application. The Tesoro Del Valle Homeowners Association sued him, and in early November a jury told Griffin the panels should be moved to a more discreet area of his property.
Solar installer Bradley Bartz earlier this year threatened a Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., community group with legal action after it denied three clients permits to install solar panels. He filed a claim against the city of Torrance, Calif., after it rejected another client’s application. In all four cases, Bartz prevailed....
Yup, THAT is what is being BROUGHT IN with the SUN!!
