In Westchester county, there are 4 components to the solar incentives that are available:

NYSERDA rebate- $3/watt for 1st 4,000 watts, then $2/watt to 8,000 watts
Federal 30% Income tax credit – no cap
NY State 25% Income tax credit - $5,000 cap
NYSERDA Energy Smart Loan – 4% off your loan interest for 10 years

The federal and state ITC’s are credits off your tax liability- they lower the amount of your tax, not your income so they are like cash!

A typical solar energy system in Westchester county might look like this:

A 4kW system would generate approx. 4,800 kWh/year or about	$1,000 year in electricity
Contract Cost	$31,500
NYSERDA Rebate	$12,000
Net to Customer	$19,500
30% Fed ITC	$ 5,850
25% NYS ITC	$ 4,875
Final Net Cost	$ 8,775

If you paid cash for this system, you would break even between year 7 and 8 and would accrue savings of $34,000 over the system life.

If you took out a NYSERDA Energy Smart Loan at 7% for 10 years, then NYSERDA would pay 4% of your loan interest, leaving you a payment of $85/mo. You would be cash positive, after taxes, from day 1 and your savings would grow yearly. After 25 years, you would have saved $32,610 compared to utility costs.

If you refinanced your home at 5.5% for 30 years to pay for the system you would be paying half as much per month as you are now paying for electricity, the interest would be tax deductible, and your savings would grow to $27,831 over 25 years, without accounting for interest deductions.