If you’re like us, you and your family have been largely stuck inside your Cape Cod, Greater Boston, South Shore, or South Coast house this year, and you may be looking for renewable energy solutions to power your home as well as reliable backup power in case the grid goes down, particularly as storms continue to increase in severity.
If you’re thinking about making the initial upgrade to solar and are unsure if the cost of installing solar panels and a battery is worth it, here’s a look at how you can benefit. Plus, with the tax credits and solar incentive programs, now more than ever is the time to go solar plus storage!
Protection From Power Outages
Grid-tied solar panels are shut off when the grid goes down, so you won’t be able to produce your own power in an outage, just like your neighbors who rely on the grid. With a solar battery, it will detect immediately when there is an outage and seamlessly switch on to provide uninterrupted power from your clean energy supply.
Energy Independence – 24/7
When your energy usage exceeds your solar panels’ energy production, you have to rely on the grid and fossil fuels to make up the difference. Even if you are taking advantage of net metering and other available solar incentives (more on those below), you’ll still be beholden to your utility company.
With solar battery installation, you’re one step closer to energy independence while reducing or eliminating your reliance on fossil fuels, and have peace of mind during a power outage.
Take Advantage of Financing & Incentives to Make A Solar Battery System Affordable
There are a number of significant solar battery incentives that you can benefit from when you upgrade to a solar plus storage system.
All solar battery backup systems qualify for the same savings from the 26% federal solar tax credit (also called the Solar Investment Tax Credit) as solar panel systems without energy storage—but you need to act soon. The solar tax credit was extended at the end of 2020 and will remain at 26% for 2021 and 2022 but will decline to 22% in 2023 and completely eliminated for residential solar projects from 2024.
MA-Specific Solar Battery Incentive Program
Batteries help homeowners qualify for even higher payments under MA’s SMART solar incentive program, where Eversource, Unitil, and National Grid customers get paid a fixed rate for the energy produced by their solar energy systems each month for 10 years. If you’re in a municipal light district, net metering regulations can vary. Therefore, solar batteries could provide additional benefits. Contact us to learn more.
Finally, there is a specific Massachusetts solar battery incentive for National Grid and Eversource customers in some locations—MassSave’s ConnectedSolutions program. Under this incentive, homeowners may qualify for payments when they use their solar battery storage to assist the utility with “events” during specific times of peak usage, when demand for electricity is elevated.
And, if you’re looking for great financing to make solar battery upgrades more affordable, MassSave also offers HEAT loans specifically for solar batteries participating in the ConnectedSolutions program. Whether you already have solar panels and want to increase your benefits or you’re looking to upgrade all at once to a solar energy system with battery storage, HEAT loans offer 0% interest for 7 years!
Talk to My Generation Energy About Solar Energy Storage Today
Whether it’s solar battery tax credits or incentives through the ConnectedSolutions program or SMART, My Generation Energy can help you take advantage of the many ways that Massachusetts homeowners have to save with solar plus storage upgrades. We’ll work with you to find the right solution for your home, and offer a number of leading solar battery manufacturers to choose from, including:
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Tesla Powerwall
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sonnenBatterie
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Enphase Encharge
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LG Chem Resu
Make sure you’re maximizing your energy savings while stuck at home. Call 508-694-6884 or contact us to learn more about the benefits of a solar plus storage system.
