Oahu solar energy is a great investment in your future because your Oahu solar power system pays for itself over time with lower electric bills and will continue to provide all of your electrical needs. You will discover that your system is very low maintenance and the solar panels offer a long life.
Many people believe that Oahu solar is expensive to install. However, they do not consider the available Oahu solar rebates. If you are interested in a solar system then you might be even more interested once you understand there are some great incentives available for Oahu. For example, you can use the 30 percent federal tax incentive which allows you to deduct 30% of the cost of a solar system from your individual federal income taxes (calculated after the application of any state rebates/incentives). You can add that to the 35 per cent state tax incentive from the state of Hawaii. That is quite a lot of support to go solar and it is an even better deal when you consider the money you will receive in the electricity costs you save. In fact, your electricity costs can disappear completely in the future.
When you consider the incentives you will receive you might also consider the fact that your federal income tax credit, of 30 percent, does not have a cap. So, if your system costs you $1,000 or $10,000 there is no cap on your total savings. The 35 percent Hawaii state tax credit does have a cap at $5,000 per home solar system. Even so, that still offers the homeowner a nice chunk of savings. Oahu solar rebates offer a great opportunity to have a complete Oahu solar system at a drastically reduced cost to the homeowner. And recently, Hawaii amended its tax credit incentive program providing the option for Hawaiian taxpayers to claim a refund instead of a tax credit for the purchase of a solar water heater or solar panel system (if you meet certain criteria). When Hawaiian consumers were only allowed to make these solar purchases using a tax credit as an incentive, some taxpayers were not able to take advantage of the financial incentive if they had no tax liabilities. So, those consumers on a fixed income or those consumers that did not owe taxes were precluded from taking advantage of the tax credit. With a refundable tax credit, more consumers may be able to purchase and install these renewable energy systems.
Hawaii is also one of the few states in the U.S. that has adopted a feed-in-tariff system for solar energy. A feed-in-tariff is essentially where your utility company has to pay you cash for the amount of energy your system produces above the amount you consume. Currently in Hawaii, participating utility companies (HECO, MECO and HELCO) are paying $0.218/kWh for solar panel systems that are less than or equal to 20 kW; and $0.189/kWh for solar panel systems that are greater than 20 kW and less than or equal to 500 kW. Hawaii has not set rates for systems that are greater than 500 kW just yet. Assuming that the average U.S. home uses approximately 8,900 kWH per year, a homeowner with Hawaii solar could be looking at payments from their utility between $1,680 and $1,940 each year!
Homeowners also wonder if they can afford a solar system. The answer is, “yes.” If you have the money to pay the cost outright then you free yourself of monthly expenses. However, many people cannot afford to make such an investment. These people will learn they have a number of financing opportunities with Oahu solar installers to either finance or lease a HI solar system. In addition, there are other state/city sponsored programs to help people go solar in Hawaii. For example, the city and county of Honolulu has developed a Solar Roofs Loan Program. The program offers low-interest loans (0% or 2%) to income-qualified homeowners on Oahu for the installation of solar water heating systems through Honolulu’s Rehabilitation Loan Program. These loans are available for single-family homes, condominiums, and co-ops. The maximum loan is $80,000 for each dwelling unit for owner-occupied properties, up to four dwelling units and not to exceed $125,000 per property. Loans will be secured by a promissory note and a mortgage on the property.
Some people decide they will wait before installing their system. They believe the prices will eventually come down. However, solar technology has not gone through many changes during the last 50 years. There is one exception to this and that is the fact that there has been a decrease in cost of solar panel production. Now is the time to have your solar system installed in Oahu.