Solar Electricity in NJ/NY - Never Been Cheaper

The AP is reporting on the effect incentive programs are having, particularly in NJ and the Tri-State area. Alongside decreasing equipment prices overall, solar has never been cheaper. A Co-op owner in Queens, who was going to replace a roof anyway, saved a bundle on a new system:

Lung, the co-op president, stumbled into solar subsidy programs last year as she priced out roof repairs. City, state and federal incentives covered nearly three-quarters of the tab for a $394,514 solar system.

The building flipped the switch on in July and already cut last month's electric bill in half.

"This was just icing on the cake," Lung said. "We had to change the roof anyway."

Solar power has been getting cheaper for years. Panel prices declined 31 percent from 1998 to 2008 because of lower manufacturing and installation costs and state and local subsidies, according to a study released Wednesday by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. But it still took a ramp up in federal incentives this year to bring the cost within many people's reach.

More than half the states in the U.S. and Washington D.C. offer enough incentives to cut the costs by 40 percent or more, according to Amy Heinemann, a policy analyst at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.