Rebates

GreenFinanceSF is a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program for commercial properties. GreenFinance SF uses an "open-market" PACE model in which individual property owners identify their own project lenders and negotiate all the financing terms with them. The City collects loan repayments from the participant through a special tax lien on the property and disburses payment to the project lender. The special tax lean should provide greater security to the lender, who should be able to provide more favorable financing terms to the property owner.

The property must be located in the City and County of San Francisco must

In 2006, the City of Boulder established a solar sales and use tax rebate for photovoltaic (PV) and solar water heating installations. Solar system owners may receive a rebate (essentially a tax refund) drawn from the unrestricted tax revenues collected from solar energy sales.

Out of the sales and use taxes paid to the City of Boulder for solar projects, approximately 55% of revenues go to restricted funds. Within one year of the city’s final inspection, solar project owners can apply to receive a refund of 35% from the amount paid to unrestricted (general) funds, making the value of the

In March 2010, South Dakota established a new property tax incentive that replaced two existing property tax incentives for renewable energy. Facilities that generate electricity using wind, solar, hydro, hydrogen generated by another eligible resource, or biomass resources are eligible for this incentive, as are facilities that generate other forms of energy using solar or geothermal resources.

For eligible facilities less than 5 megawatts (MW) in capacity, all real property used or constructed for the purpose of producing electricity is assessed in the same manner as other real property. However, the first $50,000 or 70% of the assessed value of

In 2008, Massachusetts enacted the Green Communities Act (S.B. 2768), creating the Green Communities Division within the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to support Massachusetts communities efforts towards a sustainable future, specifically in terms of energy use.

The Green Communities Division offers educational, technical, and networking support to the states' communities. In addition, they provide financial incentives. The Green Communities Grant Program offers funding for communities investing in energy efficiency upgrades and policies, renewable energy technologies, and energy management systems and services.

To be eligible, communities first must apply for and achieve official designation as a "Green Community."

Note: In 2010, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which has authority over mortgage underwriters Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, directed these enterprises against purchasing mortgages of homes with a PACE lien due to its senior status above a mortgage. Most residential PACE activity subsided following this directive; however, some residential PACE programs are now operating with loan loss reserve funds, appropriate disclosures, or other protections meant to address FHFA's concerns. Commercial PACE programs were not directly affected by FHFA’s actions, as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not underwrite commercial mortgages. Visit PACENation for more information about PACE financing

Note: This model ordinance was designed to provide guidance to local governments seeking to develop siting rules for large-scale, ground-mounted solar (250 kW and above). While it was developed as part of a cooperative effort involving several state agencies, the model itself has no legal or regulatory authority.

As part of the Green Communities Act (passed in 2008), the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) developed an “as-of-right siting,”* model ordinance guiding the development of large-scale solar, which is defined as 250 kilowatts (kW) or more.

The model “as-of-right” siting must

SB 71 of 2010 established a sales and use tax exclusion (STE) for eligible projects on property utilized for the design, manufacture, production or assembly of advanced transportation technologies or alternative source (including energy efficiency) products, components, or systems. The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) is administering the program. The STE Program is currently authorized through 2025.

To date, the Program has approved financial assistance for private entities in the following fields: electric vehicle manufacturing, solar photovoltaic manufacturing, landfill gas capture and production, biogas capture and production (dairies and waste water treatment plants), demonstration hydrogen fuel

Residential solar energy systems are exempted from property tax assessments in New Mexico in most circumstances. For the purposes of determining property taxes, the value of a property cannot increase by the greater of 3% of the previous year's assessment or 6.1% of the assessment from two years ago according to state law. An assessment may exceed these restrictions, however, if physical improvements are made to the property. Under H.B. 233, enacted in 2010, residential solar systems will not be treated as physical improvements and therefore will not increase the value of the property for property tax purposes. Future assessments

New Mexico has a gross receipts tax structure for businesses instead of a sales tax. Businesses are taxed on the gross amount of their business receipts each year before expenses are deducted. Revenue generated by the sale and installation of a "qualified generating facility" may be deducted from gross receipts before the gross receipts tax is calculated. The deductions are allowed for a 10-year period starting the year construction begins. Qualified generating facilities have a minimum nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt (MW) and include geothermal thermal electric, photovoltaic, solar thermal electric, and recycled energy systems. Solar facilities with associated renewable

River Falls Municipal Utilities (RFMU) offers loans of $2,500 - $50,000 to its residential customers for the installation of photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal, geothermal, wind electric systems. The program will also support the installation of energy efficiency measures in connection with a qualifying renewable energy project, provided that the renewable energy portion of the project comprises at least 50% of project costs. Systems that generate renewable electricity must be connected to the RFMU distribution grid. Loan terms vary by project, but may range from 5 -20 years at a current interest rate of 4%. Actual loan terms will be determined