The Minnesota Department of Commerce is now accepting applications for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program. Made in Minnesota is one component of last year’s solar energy bill passed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor that is aimed to grow the solar energy sector in Minnesota.
“Minnesota businesses, nonprofits, and residents that have been interested in solar as a renewable energy source should quickly apply for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program,” said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman. “This program will help Minnesota meet our renewable energy and solar goals by creating an opportunity to buy local and invest in solar.”
Who can apply for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program?
The solar incentive program will be available to customers of the following investor-owned utilities: Xcel Energy, Alliant Energy, Minnesota Power, and Otter Tail Power. Consumers and businesses that would like to participate in the Made in Minnesota Program will need to install solar electric systems (also known as solar photovoltaic or PV) using solar modules or collectors certified as manufactured in Minnesota. Currently, modules certified for the program are available from two Minnesota companies – tenKsolar and Silicon Energy.
Qualified solar electric systems must be less than 40 kilowatts (kW) to qualify for incentives. Applications for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program will be accepted annually between January 1 and February 28 each year through 2023 and will be selected by lottery.
About the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Amounts
The 2014 incentive rates for consumers, businesses, and nonprofits for the first year of the 10-year, $15-million-a-year Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program is available on the Department’s Made in Minnesota Developers and Installers webpage. Consumers will see additional benefit for installing residential systems. To provide greater access to residential systems, the incentive amounts increased for consumers from 20 cents per kWh to 29 cents per kWh for tenKsolar modules and from 27 cents per kWh to 39 cents per kWh for Silicon Energy modules.
The Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program is administered by the Department of Commerce with an annual budget of up to $15 million for 10 years, of which up to $250,000 per year is reserved for solar thermal rebates. Questions about the program can be directed to solar.help@state.mn.us or the Commerce Energy Information Line: 651-539-1886 or toll-free at 1-800-657-3710.
Solar Thermal Projects Qualify, Too
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy (heat). Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat swimming pools. Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates but are used for heating water or air for residential and commercial use. For the purposes of the Made in Minnesota program, a “Solar Thermal System” means a flat plate or evacuated tube with a fixed orientation that collects the sun’s radiant energy and transfers it to a storage medium for distribution as energy to heat or cool air or water. A solar thermal system is “Made in Minnesota” if components of the system are manufactured in Minnesota and the solar thermal system is certified by the solar rating and certification corporation. The solar thermal systems may be installed in residential and commercial facilities for, among other purposes, water heating, space heating, and pool heating purposes.
Applications are available on the Commerce’s Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program webpage >>
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