Oct292009
Solar feed-ins - so popular they’re handed out by lottery
Filed under Alternative energy by david brooks at 8:36 am
Vermont has the nation’s first statewide feed-in tariff for solar power, that will eventually add 12.5 megawatts of peak power, or almost 1 percent of the state’s electric usage. Basically, people or companies participating will get paid an artificially high rate for the power they produce (30 cents per kilowatt-hour, about three times the rate in southern N.H.) as an incentive to install the panels. Such tariffs are cited as the main reason that Germany and Spain, among other places, have such large amounts of solar power.
The Burlington Free-press reports that so many people signed up for the tariffs that they’re being given out by lottery.
Speaking of solar power, the announced arrival of a solar-panel manufacturing plant in Hudson, N.H., bringing at least 100 relatively high-paying jobs, as the Lowell Sun notes, is good news on the “green tech” front.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I've been very impressed with the State and Federal incentives that have been available for installation of alternative energy systems. Unfortunatly a couple of days ago a found out along with those incentives, there is a local disincentive - propery tax increases. While there is a $5,000 exemption for solar panels in Nashua, after that amount, based on their assessment, they are taxable. Apparently the exemption - if any - varies from city to city in NH. Given the high initial costs of the system, it appears the taxes could easily wipe out a good part of the savings of having a photovoltaic system. It is my understanding that there are only about 6 such systems in Nashua. Given the very small about of revenue they generate for the City, it seems like we would be better off exempting these systems from property taxes in order to encourage more people to install them.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I am a year now into my tax-reducing solar power experiment. The clothes line. 12 months, using on average 4 kwh less per day per month. And that is the only consious power reduction scheme I have followed this past year. (Two children… one a clothes changing girl.) Very much an eyesore… reduces the value of my view, and the neighbor's view.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:18 am
4 kwh/day reduction? - you mean it went from a running daily average of, say, 25 kwh to 21 kwh?
Wow! That's a lot …
October 30th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Yeah, I know. But I have not tried to do anything else this year….
Aug 08 - 18 kwh Aug 09 13kwh
Sept-08 - 20 kwh Sept 09 16 kwh
Oct 08 - 18 kwh Oct 09 15 kwh
And that is adding a laptop (in April)… but sending one off to college 1 Sept (but he never did much laundry so the effect on the clothesline was minimal)
I did wonder about the dryer because the Kill-a-Watt doesn't do 220