California Energy Tax Credits
and Incentives

The state of California recognized the importance of clean energy supply and grants California energy tax credits. The following is a list of available tax credits and incentives currently provided by the State of California and by the California utilities

California Energy Related Tax Provisions

• Photovoltaic Solar Power for Existing Homes

  Expected Performance Based incentive, for systems with capacity less than 50 kW (the planned capacity for a typical home is 2-4kW) the incentive is $2.5/W AC. The incentive will gradually decreased as the aggregate capacity of solar grows (earlier birds enjoy higher incentives). The system must be grid-tied, the equipment must carry at least 10 years warranty and be installed by a licensed Californian contractor.



• Solar Water Heating

  Based on estimated performance direct incentive with a upper limit $1,500, $15/sq ft for open loop systems, $20/sq ft for closed loop systems see solar heaters types



• New Homes

  The incentive is $2.5/watt, home must be grid connected, incentive is based on expected performance.
  See my page on Zero Energy Home

• Property Tax

  Solar systems' cost can be excluded from the property evaluation . You may contact your county assessor office for more details



• California utilities incentives

  California utilities might debate part of your investment. Contact your utility to find out what incentives they have in place for solar power generation systems and how much they pay for electricity you sell them (what is their feed-in tariff?)

click here to return from california energy tax credits to home page