San Francisco One step away from becoming Solar City

Earlier this month San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission approved a plan to grant healthy incentives to help cover the costs of installation for solar panels. The plan, would grant between $3000 - $5000 per private residence, depending on whether you use a local installer and how close you are to a local power plant, and $10,000 per business. I'm not clear on whether the myriad of non-profit Home Owner Associations throughout the city qualify under the business category, but one would assume they will.

The plan, which has one final vote to get through next month by the Board of Supervisors is expected to win handily. It would make the cost of installing solar near to half the price by the time one includes a $7000 state tax rebate and a federal $2000 tax rebate.

'For a typical homeowner in San Francisco, installing a 3-kilowatt, rooftop solar electric system costs $24,000, according to Barry Cinnamon, president of the California Solar Energy Industries Association.'

The proposed rebate collectively could close to half the costs of installation and help put San Francisco in the forefront of one of the most progressive solar incentives by a city in the nation.