The start of the new year, however, brings fresh hope — and fresh funds. Here’s how the APS solar rebate program will work going forward:

APS’s 2011 Residential Grid-Tied PV incentive budget has been equally divided into the four quarters of 2011. Once APS has reserved all funding for a given quarter, applications will be held (in the order in which they were received) and will be reserved in the next quarter in which funding is available.

As it stands, APS will pay an upfront incentive of $1.75 per watt for residential solar electric systems up to 50 percent of total project costs. A typical 5-kilowatt (kW) array is comprised of 5,000 watts — which means it would be eligible for a solar rebate of $8,750. Tack on the federal solar tax credit — which is worth 30 percent of post-rebate costs — and you can begin to see why solar home energy systems (not to mention commercial solar energy systems) are becoming such a popular option in the Grand Canyon State.

If we could offer one piece of advice to APS customers who are interested in installing solar panels for their home, it would be to get started now by having a free home solar energy evaluation. Not only is the APS solar rebate scheduled to come down later in the year, experience tells us that these rebates will go like hotcakes. In fact, it looks like solar rebates allocated for 2011 have already been reserved:

Given the huge amount of recent interest in Arizona solar power, it’s not surprising the APS solar rebate budget — at about $6 million per quarter in 2011 — is already on its way to becoming fully allocated. With some luck and perseverance, APS could well fullfil its obligations under Arizona’s renewable energy standard, which require the utility to get 15 percent of its retail energy sales from renewable energy sources by 2025.

If you’ve got questions about how to go about installing solar panels in Arizona — or beyond — please feel free to post them below. Or, just give us a call.

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The first award was for the utility’s Flagstaff Pilot, a community power project in which APS will study the feasibility of operating a large amount of solar electric systems along a single distribution line. In order to carry out the pilot, two hundred Flagstaff homes and businesses will host APS-owned rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at no up-front cost. Energy prices for those customers will be fixed over a 20-year period.

APS' Renewables superheroes are used to educate Arizona's children on the benefits of clean energy.

The second award was for its renewables superhero cartoon campaign to get young Arizona children interested in renewable energy. Solar Man, Wind Woman, Guyzer (geothermal energy), Bio (biomass) and Tank (hydro) are renewable energy superheroes that appear on T-shirts, trading cards, book bags, posters and in a comic book.

APS’s educational campaign was also named The Best Green Power Education Outreach Program by the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), one of four Green Power Leadership Awards that are co-sponsored by CRS, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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The plan has Arizona Public Service (APS), a utility company, teaming with Solon Corporation, one of the country’s largest solar module manufacturers, to build an 18-megawatt (MW) solar plant in the southern Arizona city of Gila Bend. Eighteen megawatts is roughly enough generating capacity to power the equivalent of 4,500 average U.S. home each year. Construction of the plant will employ 550 local construction workers and will begin in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, according to Marketwatch. If all goes well, the plant will be producing power sometime during the same year.

At 45 acres, the planned plant’s footprint is not unsubstantial. To boost the installation’s efficiency, panels will be placed on a single-axis tracking system that allows them to pivot and follow the sun.

APS is required to get at least 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. Beyond Solana, the Arizona utility has other solar power plant plans in the works to also help meet the 2025 goal.

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The proposed pilot program is part of APS efforts to meet Arizona’s renewable energy standards, which require that, by 2015, 15 percent of their power come renewable sources. The standards also include a solar carve out requiring that of that 15 percent, a third come from distributed generation, like PV panels.

As reported by The Arizona Republic,

APS officials plan to ask regulators to approve the $14.7 million pilot project so they can see whether it inspires more people to use solar power and also can research how the utility grid operates with many solar systems on the same power line.

If the test succeeds, APS wants to offer the program throughout its area.

APS will own and maintain the solar panels, and customers will get a discount on their bills based on how much electricity the systems are expected to produce.

Now, this sounds a lot like a power purchase agreement (PPA) except that APS does not plan to require a down payment to participate in the program. So let me see if I get this straight: The APS customer signs up for the free solar panel program. APS installs the panels on their roof. Each month, they save money on their electricity bill. Unless I’m missing something, customers have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this program. In fact, if the pilot goes through, I’m dropping everything and moving to Flagstaff to get in on the action.

There is one last detail: program participants won’t immediately see the effects of the “discounted rate” for electricity. As APS foresees it, each solar panel system will offset by about half the homeowner’s electricity use. As far as I can discern, the particpants will still be paying the APS full rate to meet the other half of their electricity needs. But, as electricity prices rise over time, this price inflation will only affect half their demand. As is the case with all solar panel systems, the customers will be effectively “locking in” a fixed rate for a portion of their electricity consumption.

Here’s The Arizona Republic again:

Each solar system will generate about half the amount of electricity a home that size uses in a year, and the participating customers will get to lock in the price of that power for 20 years, said Barbara Lockwood, APS renewable-energy manager.

That means that whenever APS raises rates, the increase will apply to only half the solar customers’ bills, while non-solar customers will see rate hikes applied to their entire bills.

What do you guys think? Too good to be true?

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