Connecticut Solar Rebate Returns

This past December, we reported that funding for Connecticut’s solar rebate program had run dry. Six months later, the program is back by popular demand. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund recently announced the re-opening of the Small Solar Rebate Program, effective July 1, 2009:

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) today announced that it has reopened its Small Solar PV Rebate Program (SSPRP).  Since November 2008, this program has been unable to accept new applications for rebates because budgeted funding for the program was fully committed.  However, with the CCEF board’s recent approval of a new, $3.1 million funding allocation
for the program, the SSPRP can now support several new rebates for residential solar installations.

“We are delighted to be able to offer this program once again to Connecticut homeowners,” said Lise
Dondy, president of CCEF. “It has been a highly popular program, enabling the purchase and
installation of more than 1,000 small solar PV systems statewide since the program was first introduced
in late 2004.”  Dondy added, “We have a long list of homeowners who wish to go green with solar and
will benefit from the new funding.  We look forward to assisting them in stabilizing their energy costs
and protecting the environment.”

Of the $3.1 million in new funds, $1.5 million will come from federal stimulus money allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (For more recent news on solar rebates and federal stimulus money, read here.) The remaining $1.6 million will be raised through small surcharges levied on all electricity utility bills, statewide — a funding approach CCEF has applied in the past.

As for the rebates themselves, residential customers who install a solar photoelectric (PV) system can expect to have their purchase subsidized as follows:

• $1.75/watt, for the first 5 kilowatts (kW) of installed PV capacity (PTC rating)
• $1.25/watt for the next 5 kW of PV capacity (for a maximum system size capped at 10 kW)

So, to take a rough example, a 7.1-kW residential solar panel system could qualify for a rebate of $11,375 ($1.75 x 5,000 watts + $1.25 x 2100 watts = $8,750 + $2,625 = $11,375). The CCEF estimates that this latest round of funding will provide rebates for 325 residential solar systems over the course of the next 11 months. Also, don’t forget that CCEF also sponsors a unique solar lease program.

To get started on your CT residential solar energy system, tell us about your home energy use. We’re here to provide free information and guidance for all your solar-related questions.