Guest opinion: Solar power helps save green and fuels the grid

Whoever first suggested making lemonade from life's lemons would appreciate the benefits of solar energy.

After all, what better response could there be to Arizona's brutal summer sun than to turn all that sunlight into energy to cool your home or office?

Solar energy also reduces our need for fossil-fueled power, avoiding carbon dioxide emissions that could contribute to making things even warmer.

If you're ready to bring this cool technology to your home or office, Tucson Electric Power can help. Our popular SunShare program provides subsidies that can significantly reduce the cost of purchasing and installing private photovoltaic arrays.

For residential customers, SunShare provides a subsidy of up to $3,000 per manufacturer's rated DC kilowatt of generating capacity. The actual credit is based on TEP's calculation of how much energy the installed system can be expected to produce annually.

SunShare can shave as much as $4,500 off the estimated $12,000 installed cost of a typical 1.5-kW residential PV system.

That price can be reduced even further by state and federal income tax credits.

Arizona provides a credit based on 25 percent of the cost of the installed system, up to $1,000. The federal tax credit is calculated based on 30 percent of the installed system cost and is capped at $2,000.

These credits are subject to some restrictions and it's best to consult a tax professional about the rules that apply to any individual system purchase.

To receive the SunShare subsidy, you'll connect your solar array to TEP's local distribution grid.

We'll also offer to install a new "net" meter on your home that can track any excess energy your system sends out to the grid. If your SunShare system produces more power than your house is using at any given time, the meter will actually spin backward, reducing your overall electric bill.

Residential PV systems can pay for themselves in energy savings, but that can take longer than many people realize. The payback period varies greatly depending on applicable incentives, system output and individual consumption, but it's usually a decade or more.

While our SunShare customers enjoy paying lower electric bills, they often tell us they're motivated primarily by a desire to reduce their impact on the environment through an investment in their own source of clean, renewable energy.

Our SunShare participants also are expanding the market for solar power systems, encouraging investment that can help drive down the cost of photovoltaic technology over time.

The Arizona Corporation Commission has called on TEP and other regulated utilities to generate an increasing share of their energy from renewable resources, reaching 15 percent by 2025.

TEP's proposal to meet that new standard could include revised incentives designed to encourage even greater participation in SunShare.

Tucson has many qualified solar installers who can provide additional technical, operational and financial information to help you make an informed decision about going solar.

But if you're ready to join nearly 400 of your Tucson SunShare neighbors and invest right now, call us at 745-3100 or visit our Web site, www.green watts.com.

We'll tell you everything you need to know about how TEP's SunShare program can help you beat the heat by tapping into that brutal summer sun.