Rebates

Cities and counties in North Carolina generally may not adopt ordinances prohibiting the installation of "a solar collector that gathers solar radiation as a substitute for traditional energy for water heating, active space heating and cooling, passive heating, or generating electricity for residential property."(§ 160D-914.a)* 

However, this does not prohibit development regulation regulating the location and screening of solar collectors as described previously, provided the regulation does not have the effect of preventing the reasonable use of a solar collector for a residential property. (§ 160D-914.b)

Nor does this prevent development regulation that would prohibit the location of solar collectors

New Hampshire’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), established in May 2007, requires the state’s electricity providers -- with the exception of municipal utilities -- to acquire by 2025, renewable energy certificates (RECs) equivalent to 25.2% of retail electricity sold to end-user customers. The RPS includes four distinct standards for different types of energy resources; these are classified as Class I, Class II, Class III, and Class IV.

Class I - New Renewable Energy. This class addresses electricity or “useful thermal energy” generated by any of the following resources, provided the generator began operation after January 1, 2006, except as noted below

Vermont's Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) was established in 2005 to promote the development and deployment of cost-effective and environmentally sustainable electric power and thermal resources -- primarily renewable energy and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies.

Funding Sources

From its establishment to 2012, the CEDF was supported via annual payments from Entergy (which owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant). In return, under terms of two memoranda of understanding between Entergy and the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) that expired in March 2012, Entergy was permitted to store its own spent nuclear fuel at the Vermont Yankee site

Arizona’s property tax exemption was established in June 2006 (H.B. 2429) and originally applied only to “solar energy devices and any other device or system designed for the production of solar energy for on-site consumption.” For property tax assessment purposes, these devices are considered to add no value to the property.

A "solar energy device" for the purpose of this incentive is defined as "a system or series of mechanisms designed primarily to provide heating, to provide cooling, to produce electrical power, to produce mechanical power, to provide solar daylighting or to provide any combination of the foregoing

Arizona’s tax credit for solar and wind installations in commercial and industrial applications was established in June 2006 (H.B. 2429). In May 2007, the credit was revised by H.B. 2491 to extend the credit to all non-residential entities, including those that are tax-exempt. Third parties who install or manufacture the system are now eligible as well; not only those that finance a system as allowed in the original legislation. These provisions are retroactive to January 1, 2006.

The tax credit, which may be applied against corporate or personal taxes, is equal to 10% of the installed cost of

Arizona’s tax credit for solar and wind installations in commercial and industrial applications was established in June 2006 (HB 2429). The credit is available to all non-residential entities who install qualified systems on their facilities, or entities who finance, install, or manufacture a qualified system and is the transferee of tax credits secured by the purchaser of the device. Tax exempt entities are also eligible for the credit if they are subject to tax on unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) if the relevant tax credits relate to activities that generate UBTI.

The tax credit, which may be applied against

Minnesota Power Grant Program offers grants of up to $50,000 to its commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers who use innovative technologies, improve manufacturing processes, undertake renewable electric energy projects or who need project design assistance. Eligible projects include renewable energy products, new electro-technologies that lower energy costs per unit of production in a manufacturing process, innovative technologies that are new and underutilized in the regional marketplace, and the inclusion of energy-efficient options in the design phase of a project.

Grants are ranked and awarded based on least grant cost per kW (annually) and/or kWh (lifetime). Design assistance grants are awarded

The Solar Rights Act (CA Civil Code 714), enacted in 1978, bars restrictions by homeowners associations (HOAs) on the installation of solar-energy systems, but originally did not specifically apply to cities, counties, municipalities or other public entities. Subsequent legislation extended these restrictions to all public entities and common interest developments.  These entities are allowed to impose reasonable restrictions on a solar energy system that do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance. 

"Significantly" was not originally defined, but later legislation adopted a specific dollar amount and system efficiency impact that the

In Minnesota, solar-energy systems purchased on or after August 1, 2005, are exempt from the state's sales tax. Solar energy systems are defined as:

"a set of devices whose primary purpose is to collect solar energy and convert and store it for useful purposes including heating and cooling buildings or other energy-using processes, or to produce generated power by means of any combination of collecting, transferring, or converting solar-generated energy." M.S. 297A.67, subd. 29.

Thus the exemption is very broad and could apply to solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems, solar water-heating systems and solar space-heating systems. All components of these systems

Before a development plan can be approved in the City of Santa Cruz, it must be found that the orientation and location of buildings, structures, open spaces and other features of the site plan preserve solar access of adjacent properties. In addition, buildings and structures should be designed and oriented to make use of natural elements such as solar radiation, wind and landscaping for heating, cooling and ventilation. Developers must also show that heating systems for hot tubs and swimming pools are solar when possible, and in all cases, energy efficient. The orientation and location of the fence or hedge