If you have the itch to live off the grid, you might want to move quickly to get some scratch. Federal incentives for residential solar installations disappear in a little more than a year. This means you need to start planning your solar home now if you want to take advantage of them before 2016, when the program ends.
For anyone interested in adding solar power to a home, this year’s Solar Tour offers several completed solar sites scattered around Clark County for the curious to visit. The national grass-roots tour takes place annually on the first Saturday in October in conjunction with National Energy Awareness Month.
Locally, the event kicks off at 10 a.m. Oct. 4 with a half-hour information session in the Clark Public Utilities Community Room, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. There is no cost for admission, however attendees should donate $5 for maps of the tour sites and other tour costs. Participants must also travel to and from each location using their own vehicles.
Local grass-roots organizer John Zagunis of Camas represents Solar Washington Southwest, the local coordinator for the tour. A solar-installation contractor and owner of ACT on Solar, he is a longtime advocate of solar energy. According to Zagunis, this is the 13th year for the tour in Clark County and he expects around 200 people to visit at least one solar home.
“The tour hopes to inspire county residents to make sustainable energy choices that reduce costs, support energy independence, protect against power outages and reduce carbon emissions,” Zagunis said.
In its 19th year, the National Solar Tour is the largest grass-roots solar energy event in the world. It’s coordinated by the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society and involves more than 150,000 people and 5,000 solar energy sites nationwide.
Besides solar homes, participants can take a tour of the Harvey house, an energy-thrifty home. It was the first home in the county to receive the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum ranking from the U.S. Green Building Council. Platinum is the highest possible rating. The Harveys have opened their home for the solar tour before.
“Lack of education is the biggest reason people don’t take advantage of the solar designs and technology,” said Dave Harvey. “We want to educate people about what’s affordable in sustainable design.”
Last year, the tour highlighted eight residences powered by solar. This year, it will show six solar sites, including one business. The tour includes locations in Camas, Amboy, Salmon Creek and Vancouver. One home has installed a solar array to power an electric car. “Renewable solar energy allows homeowners to offset their monthly energy bills,” said Bart Hansen, energy counselor at Clark Public Utilities. “The tour let’s folks see new ways and the incentives available to achieve energy savings using solar power.”
Tourgoers will learn about solar energy investment incentives that include:
• A $500 rebate from Clark Public Utilities for the installation of a solar water heater.
• A 30 percent federal tax credit for homeowners and businesses, available until 2016.
• State tax credits for installation of photovoltaic modules and electric inverters. The combination adds up to 54 cents per kilowatt-hour of capacity.
To find out more about solar energy in Washington, visit www.solarwa.org. Check out the incentives and loans offered by Clark Public Utilities for installing solar energy and learn more about the utility’s net metering program to buy back solar energy generated in Clark County on its website at www.clarkpublicutilities.com/index.cfm/our-environment/generate-your-own-power/solar-options/loans-and-rebates.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
