The sun’s within reach

Incentives help offset cost of solar water, electric systems

By Toby Van Fleet  

Pamplin Media Group, Sep 11, 2007

 

Within earshot of business-dense North Mississippi Avenue, one block on the quieter North Albina Avenue is a mishmash of blooming gardens, overgrown lawns, brightly painted houses, old cars and one unassuming solar panel.

That panel, perhaps a sign of things to come in Portland, shines on the south-facing roof slope of the home of Dan and Elisa Mohrmann.

“We’re not total ‘eco’ kind of people,” says Elisa Mohrmann, the mother of six girls who admits that she practices organic gardening, home-schools her children and recycles. Solar, she says, “just kind of slid in there with our other kinda offbeat lifestyle.”

Last summer, the family was at the Mississippi Street Fair when they stopped by a booth set up by a solar contractor.

“It’s something that we’d read about, even thought about and talked about a little bit,” she says.

Having just refinanced their century-old home, which they bought seven years ago before housing prices in the area exploded, the single-income family – Dan Mohrmann is a roofer – found themselves in a position to explore their options.

“If we hadn’t had the money right at that point in time, it wouldn’t have even been something we would have considered,” Elisa Mohrmann says, explaining that they could not have afforded the upfront cost of a system.

They decided to install a solar water-heating system. And of the $8,000 they spent, they received $5,120 back in incentives and tax credits. “It’s not about the carbon footprint sort of thing,” she says. “It really was the financial benefit.”

In fact, many Portlanders are finding that a solar hot-water system is an accessible first step into solar power.

“There’s less upfront cost for the homeowner so the initial investment is smaller,” says Kacia Brockman, solar program manager at Energy Trust of Oregon, which paid a $1,120 incentive to the Mohrmanns. “And the amount of energy savings you get per dollar invested is higher for a solar water heater than it is for solar electric.”

By “solar electric,” Brockman means a photovoltaic system, often referred to as “PV,” which actually generates the electricity that you would otherwise buy from a utility.

A solar water-heating system – like the one the Mohrmanns installed – does not generate electricity. Instead, it uses solar power to heat up a glycol solution similar to antifreeze, which is then circulated in pipes around a special water tank. The hot water from that tank then feeds into the regular water heater and eventually to the tap.

Results are in

This is the Mohrmanns’ first summer using the solar water-heating system. They noticed a difference in their bill the first month after they installed it. Mohrmann has even rearranged her dishwashing and laundry schedule to make the most out their solar resource.

Indeed, the energy potential is reduced when it’s cloudy. For times likes those, and at night, the electric water heater kicks in.

“We definitely can tell when the sun is out,” she says. “The water is very hot.”

The Mohrmanns see more renewable energy in their future, too. They hope to build a home in which they would incorporate more solar, and even wind power, to save money.

“The expectation is that eventually it will become much more accessible,” says the Energy Trust’s Brockman, who explains that one of the goals of the incentive is to help prepare the solar market, increasing supply and competition and therefore bringing down the price.

“I think for most people, there are those that really do embrace the other end the spectrum, of, you know, doing it just because it’s good for the planet and all that,” Elisa Mohrmann says. “But I really think for most people, the bottom line has to be financial because they have to live day to day.”

tobyvanfleet@portlandtribune.com

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Find out more

• The city’s Office of Sustainable Development, in conjunction with the Energy Trust of Oregon, offers free classes and workshops on going solar. Go to www.portlandonline.com/osd and click on Solar Now in “Energy and Biofuels” under the Programs tab.

• The Energy Trust of Oregon offers incentives beyond state and federal tax credits. Its Web site, www.energytrust.org, features an interactive solar calculator that lets homeowners see how much they would spend on installation after incentives and how much they would save on energy bills. The site also offers information on how to find a contractor.

• Solar Oregon provides information on tax credits, classes and more at www.solaroregon.org.

• The Oregon Department of Energy offers answers to a variety of questions at egov.oregon.gov/ENERGY/ RENEW/solar.

The bottom line on solar paybacks

Even though many residents who install some sort of solar system can recover up to half of the total cost, an upfront total investment can be daunting, since part of the reimbursement happens at tax time.

There are three ways to recover a portion of the cost of a solar installation in Oregon. The amount a person gets back depends on what kind of system is installed and which utility provides the electricity.

The federal tax credit is a one-time payback of 30 percent of the cost with a $2,000 cap. Most people reach that cap.

At the state level, residents can receive a tax credit of up to $1,500 for a water heating system or up to $6,000 for a photovoltaic system, paid out in $1,500 chunks over four years.

In addition to the tax credits, the Energy Trust of Oregon pays an incentive of up to $10,000 immediately after the installed system has been inspected and approved.

Eligibility for these incentives depends on requirements such as a roof in good condition and the use of an eligible contractor in the trust’s network.

— Toby Van Fleet