Plan Your Solar Budget in Georgia - Atlanta and the Southeast

In most cases, the biggest obstacle to a solar investment is the upfront cost.  Much of this cost will be repaid within the first 3 month to one year.  However, the payback on all solar projects will depend on whether you have sufficient taxable income to take advantage of all the incentives.  The difference between taking all the incentives and some of the incentives can be a payback of 3 years versus 8 years.

Up Front Cost

The upfront cost for solar systems will be in the $5 - $7 per watt range, depending on the size and specifics of the system.  The table below give basic guidelines as to what solar systems cost.  For customers that can utilize all the incentives, the return on investment can be very attractive.

Finance_Table


Can you Utilize the Incentives?

Grants:  Incentives paid as grants, such as the current Federal incentive to Commercial customers, are cash payments usually made withing a month or two of completing a project.  Note, the Federal incentive for Residential customers is still a Tax Credit.  Grants may or may not have tax consequences.  A detailed cashflow analysis is available upon request.

Tax Credits:  Tax Credits are a credit to you from the issueing entity, payable when you have taxes due.  So if you receive a Georgia Tax Credit, you will receive that cash benefit when you pay taxes.  Note, this is not a deduction, but a credit.  For example, if you owe $10,000 in taxes and receive a $8,000 tax credit, than you will only pay $2,000.  If you do not owe more than the amount of the credit, than you may carry it forward for up to five years.  State Tax Credits are harder to use.  For more information about tax credits, visit your State or Federal Department of Revenue, or give us a call.

Depreciation:  For Commercial customers, you will be able to depreciate your investment on an accellerated basis.  For 2011, you may depreciate 100% of the system cost in the first year, so long as it is operational in this caledar year.  This is effectively a tax deduction.
Financing Solar Projects

Most business owners will finance the incentives and depreciation at terms comparable to traditional equipment financing.  Financing options are dependent on the credit of the system owner, however, Inman Solar has and will finance projects.  Ask us for more information.

Residential

Small Commercial

Large Commercial

System Size (kW)

5

25

200

Estimated Area Required (Sq Ft)

1,200

3,000

30,000

Annual Energy Produced (kWh)

13,600

34,000

136,000

Installed Cost per Watt (including tax)

$7.00

$6.00

$5.00

Total System Cost

$35,000

$150,000

$1,000,000

Year One Cashflows

 

 

 

Federal Grant (30% of Total Cost) - cash in 60 days

$10,500*

$45,000

$300,000

State Tax Credit (35% of Total Cost - net of federal tax)

$8,085

$34,650

$231,000

Depreciation Benefit (year one)

 

$43,350

$289,000

Power Generated (Georgia Power Program)

$1,105

$5,525

$44,200

Total Year One Cashflow Recovered

$9,190

$128,525

$864,200


 

 

 

Net System Cost after One Year

$25,810

$21,475

$135,800

Payback (in years)

15

3.9

3.1

Annualized Return on Investment (IRR)

4%

13.3%

15.4%




* Residential systems are not eligible for a Federal Grant, they will receive a Federal Tax Credit