LONG ISLAND SOLAR INSTALLERS GET BUSY

Business picks up for solar energy system installers
Gary Dymski, May 28, 2009 (Newsday)

"Through late last year and into January, solar installer Gary Minnick was averaging about one job a month. Then in February, things began to heat up…Another installer, Marc Clejan, co-owner of GreenLogic in Southampton, said business for solar PV has doubled for his company since last year…GreenLogic is projecting 176 installations this year, up from 75 last year."

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"Long Island solar installers like Minnick and Clejan are benefiting from a part of the federal stimulus package that extended many consumer tax incentives for renewable energy projects, including solar PV, solar water heating and geothermal heat.

"The big winner on Long Island appears to be solar PV, which - in addition to a cap-free 30 percent federal tax credit - also is eligible for a Long Island Power Authority rebate and a 25 percent New York State tax credit. The stimulus package eliminated a $2,000 cap on the federal tax credit for solar PV…Michael Deering, LIPA's vice president of environmental affairs, said applications for the utility's solar PV rebate - $3.50 a watt - have tripled, to 180, from last year…"

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"…[One L.I. homeowner] hired GreenLogic to install two systems - a 9,460-watt array of solar PV panels and a solar water-heating setup - at more than $80,000, before rebates and tax credits. After applying all the incentives - including an extra $10,135 because of the federal stimulus package - total cost for the two systems was slightly less than $25,000…the PV system (net cost $21,157) is projected to pay for itself in about eight years and will virtually eliminate [the homeowner’s] electric bill. The water-heating system (net cost $3,812) will reduce [the] natural gas consumption by about 25 percent and pay for itself in about three years."