The state of Pennsylvania has been a leading force in energy production for well over a century. While it was coal that “fueled” the early energy revolution in the state, today, it happens to be solar power. No matter the times and the energy source, the state of Pennsylvania evidently has a habit of ushering in a new era of growth.
A slew of solar incentives in the state has made solar adoption an affordable and financially savvy decision for the residents of Easton, PA.
This guide saves you time by listing out all government incentives available for home solar buyers in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Net Metering
Net metering is an attractive performance-based incentive available to homeowners with residential solar systems tied to the grid. Grid-tied systems allow solar buyers to use power from the grid when they need it, such as during nighttime, cloudy days, etc., when their solar system is not producing energy. Net metering allows customers to feed excess solar power to the grid and offset their energy consumption from the grid.
Every kWh of solar energy customers feed into the grid offsets an equal amount from their monthly power bill, effectively slashing their bill.
In practice, such an arrangement turns the entire grid into a battery for solar buyers, allowing them to “store” excess energy produced during the day, and use it when they need it.
Federal Solar Tax Credit (ITC)
All residential solar purchases in Easton qualify for an income tax credit, which slashes your out-of-pocket expenditure on your solar system by as much as 26%.
Bear in mind that the ITC incentive is a tax credit on your annual income and not a flat discount. So, your annual income must be big enough to take complete advantage of this incentive.
Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs)
Every time your solar system produces 1,000kWh of energy, you earn an SREC. You can sell this SREC in the open market and earn extra money. In July, 2022, Pennsylvania SRECs are trading for $43 per SREC.
To give you an idea of how much earnings you can make with SRECs, let’s take an example of an 8kWh solar system. It generates an estimated 9kWh of power annually, which earns you 9 SRECs by the end of the year. You can trade them to earn an additional $387 in just one year. These earnings are in addition to your money savings realized from avoiding utility power bills, and the net metering earnings.