 can enact rules to make solar power accessible for everyone. Luckily, New Jersey has some of the best solar policies out there. There are four main categories of rules and policies to know:
Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS): This requires utilities in the state to eventually source at least a certain percentage of their electricity from clean, renewable sources like solar. New Jersey has one of the strongest RPS goals in the nation, stating that 22.5% of all energy must come from renewable sources by 2021. Out of this 22.5%, 4.1% must come from solar, which means that solar is crucial in order to meet requirements. This is great because it forces the usually unwilling utility companies to aid in the transition to solar.
Electricity Price: Currently the average price of power in New Jersey is about $0.16 for a kilowatt-hour of electricity, which is about 3 cents more expensive than the national average. Although this seems unfortunate, the higher electric prices could mean even larger savings if you switch to solar power.
Net Metering: This requires your utility company to monitor how much energy your solar power system produces and how much energy you consume. They use this to make sure that you get the full retail rate for any surplus energy you produce. This credit is applied to your bills for up to 12 months. At the end of the 12 months billing period, they pay you for any remaining energy at an avoided-cost rate. New Jersey has a pretty ideal net metering policy.
Interconnection Policies: Interconnection policies allow you to connect to the electrical grid with solar panels on your roof. If you are looking to have solar panels on your single home, you should have no problem connecting, with no application fees, if your system is 10kw or less. If your system is larger than 10kw, you will not be required to install a redundant external disconnect switch or be required to purchase additional liability insurance. Overall, New Jersey has pretty smooth and easy interconnection policies.
When it comes to the perks of installing a solar system on your house, New Jersey is pretty good. There are four main types of incentives you may have the option for:
Solar Power Rebates: Some state legislatures provide rebates for solar panel purchases to branch on investment and create new jobs. If you purchase the solar panel system yourself, you qualify for this free cash, which is generally a large payment back to you. Some solar installers like to take this amount directly off the total installed price, and they'll handle the paperwork for you to make things a lot less complex. Unfortunately, New Jersey does not offer rebates for clean energy types. New Jersey legislators made the decision to back solar power with only the SREC market. However, you may be able to get some rebates if you are building a new home and using solar to power it. The program is called "The NJ Clean Energy Residential New Construction Program".
Solar Power Tax Credits: State tax credits are not technically free money. They are 'credits' and not 'deductions' which means that if you have the knowledge of taxes, you can take advantage of them. They could essentially be a 1-to-1 dollar amount off your taxes instead of a fraction of the cost of the system. However, New Jersey does not offer any personal tax credits for solar panels.
Solar Power Performance Payments: These are essentially small payments for each kWh a solar system produces. In New Jersey, the performance payments are in the form of the SRECs. SRECs act as proof that the utility companies are following the law to produce their share of clean power. If they do not produce clean power through their own means, they must buy it from the average solar power homeowner. To get money for your SRECs, you can sign up with an SREC broker, such as SRECtrade. These guys handle the paperwork, aggregate a lot of homeowner SRECs together, handle the trading with the utility companies and take a commission for their efforts.
Property Tax Exemption: Property tax exemption status is a large factor when putting toget