Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Sunshine program offers rebates to residential and small commercial residents that install photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal. It was authorized in July 2008 by the state legislature and began accepting applications in May 2009 under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Only systems installed after the date of program opening are eligible for rebates. A total of $100 million (funded through state bonds) is available for rebates over the lifetime of the program. The DEP expects the program as a whole to last three to four years.  
 
All residential applicants must be Pennsylvania residents, own the home upon which the system is installed, and use it as a primary residence (i.e., vacation homes and investment properties do not qualify for residential rebates). Small business applicants must be for-profit entities located within the state of Pennsylvania with no more than 100 full-time employees. This definition includes producers of an agricultural commodity. Low-income residents (60% or less of median state income) are eligible for higher incentives than other applicants.  
 
It is important to note that residents and small businesses do not submit incentive applications themselves. Applications must be submitted on behalf of the applicant by an approved installer. Households are eligible for only one PV and one solar thermal rebate. Small businesses may receive multiple rebates, but are only permitted to submit one PV application and one solar thermal application at a time and must complete the project and rebate process prior to submitting another application.  
 
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a policy statement on "double-dipping" from multiple solar rebate programs (e.g., the PA Sunshine and the PPL Electric Utilities solar rebate programs). Double-dipping is generally not permitted; however, the DEP does identify some circumstances where participation in PA Sunshine and another solar rebate program would not be considered double-dipping. Click here or visit the program website to view the DEP's statement.  
 
The program is set up to provide rebates that decline over time as certain benchmarks, or "steps", of installed capacity are reached. The residential and small business portions are assigned separate incentive schedules for PV rebates, but the schedules are combined for solar thermal installations. Each residential PV step has been allotted 10 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity. Each small business PV step was allotted 10 MW of installed capacity, except the fourth step, which received only 5 MW. Solar thermal incentives are scheduled be stepped down at intervals of 1,500 installed systems. The program website contains a tally of installed projects to inform homeowners and installers of the incentive status. Residential sector applications met the second milestone in July 2010 and applications are now being reviewed under the third tier of incentives. Small business applications reached the fourth capacity milestone in May 2010, prompting a program suspension. The small business program was re-opened in June 2010 with $4 million available for additional incentives at fourth tier levels.  
 
The list below describes incentive levels and other program rules as they stood as of July 16, 2010.

• Residential PV: $1.25/W for systems of 1-10 kilowatts (kW). Systems larger than 10 kW are eligible, but incentives are limited to first 10 kW  
  
• Small Business PV: $0.75/W for systems of 3-10 kW; $0.50/W for next 90 kW; and $0.25/W for next 100 kW. Systems larger than 200 kW are eligible, but incentives are limited to first 200 kW  
  
• Solar Thermal: 25% of installed system cost, with maximums of $2,000 for residences and $20,000 for small businesses  
  
• Low-Income (PV and Solar Thermal): 35% of installed costs (the maximum rebate authorized by the enabling legislation)

All work must be performed by approved installers (see list on program website), and systems are subject to a variety of equipment and installation requirements. The application procedures generally require that systems be grid-connected, but exceptions to this requirement may be granted by the DEP on a case-by-case basis at the applicant's request. The program also has provisions for system inspections and performance reporting. Ownership of renewable energy credits (RECs) or other environmental attributes produced by rebated systems is not addressed in the program rules; however, Pennsylvania's net metering rules grant the customer-generator title RECs generated by net metered systems unless the customer assigns them to another entity or specifically rejects ownership.  
 
The program will not cover costs associated with roof repair or battery back-up systems. Please consult the program guidelines or contact the DEP for further program details.