Though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expired at the end of 2010, not all its money has been used up. The state of New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission 
recently rolled out a new rebate for non-residential solar thermal and solar electric systems up to 100kW. Those eligible to apply for this rebate include businesses, non-profits, schools, governmental or municipal entities, or multi-family residences of 3 units or greater doing renewable energy systems installed on or after November 1, 2010.
One business, Black Dog Car Wash, took advantage of this rebate by installing solar electricity at their newest Dover location. Local solar company ReVision Energy installed thirty 235 watt Conergy P panels and one SMA 7000US grid tied inverter. This system equals 7050 watts or 7kW and is expected to produce 9024 kw hours of clean, renewable electricity a year, or 752 kw hours a month.
Jeremiah and Kasara Gage, owners of Black Dog Car Wash comment “solar is a green technology that our customers can see. We have been integrating green technology for years, but unfortunately our customers can rarely see the improvements that lie behind closed doors. The state and federal rebates currently available gave us an even greater incentive to add solar energy”.
The federal tax credit for solar hot water or solar electricity is a full 30% of the system cost, including the labor to install the system. In 2011 only, business owners can take a cash grant in lieu of the tax credit to see their return on investment even faster. The federal tax credit for solar is available until 2016. The state rebate, however, is available until funds are exhausted.
The incentive payment for the state rebate is $1.00 per watt (A/C) for solar electric systems and $0.07/modeled kBtu/year for solar thermal systems and is capped at a maximum of $50,000 or 25% of the total cost of the facility, whichever is less. A pre-application process is required. ReVision Energy assisted Black Dog Car Wash with the pre-application forms as they require technical know-how, and information on the design capacity. Once the rebate has been approved there is a 9 month window for the work to be completed and step 2 of the rebate to be submitted.
“We’ve seen a surge of interest in the commercial sector of New Hampshire” says Jennifer Hatch, Marketing Manager of ReVision Energy “but there is still a lot of money out there, available for the taking. With a rebate for up to 25% of the system cost, and a tax credit that covers 30% there is really no other system you can invest in that will pay you back in both energy dollars and marketing dollars. A lot of our clients pursue solar energy because they want to do right by the environment, but the investment made is financially driven. If it didn’t make sense financially, people wouldn’t buy it. More and more customers are demanding the businesses they frequent to go greener, essentially be responsible for their environmental footprint. We’re here to help businesses do just that.”
About Revision Energy
ReVision Energy, with locations in Liberty and Portland as well as Exeter, NH, has installed more than 2,500 residential and commercial solar energy systems across Maine and New Hampshire. Systems are designed by engineers from MIT, Dartmouth and Brown, who together have more than 40 years of combined renewable energy experience. Our in-house team of installers is state solar certified and four of our project supervisors carry NABCEP certification, which is the gold standard in the solar industry. For More information, go to www.revisionenergy.com or call their NH office at (603) 501-1822
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