Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for a better Xmas gift. Last Friday December 18th we got the great news that the solar Incentive Tax Credit (30% of the solar installation cost), available for residential and commercial solar projects until 2016, had been reconducted for an additional 3 years at the current 30% rate and then would steadily decrease by 10 points every year from 2019 to 2021. This decision is a strong demonstration of the government’s will to go green and of its determination to support this transition.

Read more about it

The proposition of the utilities to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to end the current  Net Energy Metering agreement (NEM) has been rejected, announced the CPUC last Tuesday December 15th. Another great news for solar, as the utilities’ proposition aimed at considerably increase the charges for customers willing to go solar. In the Proposed Decision communicated by the CPUC, we learned that things would mostly remained unchanged: the CPUC will be preserving NEM with full retail credit. No reduced compensation rate. No demand charges. No capacity fees. No grid access fees. No monthly netting. No standby charges. Current exemptions from study fees and distribution upgrades remain. However, there will be an application fee of approximately $100 for the right to interconnect one’s solar system to the grid.

Net Energy metering, or simply Net Metering is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. For example, if a residential customer has a solar photovoltaic system on his home’s rooftop, it may generate more electricity than the home uses during daylight hours. If the home is net metered, the electricity meter will run backwards to provide a credit against the electricity consumed at night or when the the home’s electricity use exceeds the system’s output.