Ohio
Below are some sample output amounts that you can expect and the amounts you can expect to be saving from a solar system:
In Cleveland, a 4kw solar system is expected to produce about 4378 kwh of electricity per year. If the average cost is about $.085/kwh, that equates to about $372/year in electric bill savings.
In Dayton, a 4kw solar system is expected to produce about 4685 kwh of electricity per year. If the average cost is about $.085/kwh, that equates to about $398/year in electric bill savings.
In Akron, a 4kw solar system is expected to produce about 4447 kwh of electricity per year. If the average cost is about $.085/kwh, that equates to about $378/year in electric bill savings.
What is the Ohio solar grant programs rules?
Currently if you live in the state of Ohio, the solar incentives became quite a bit better in 2009. At the moment there is a really great state grant program which allows homeowners to receive up to $25,000 in the form of a state grant after a solar system is installed. This means that is you went forward with purchasing an 8 kw solar system for about $7/watt which is the common rate right now, that would come out to about $56,000. If you had minimal shasding on your property, you would be eligible for the $25,000 state grant, which would effectively shrink your overall investment to about half. Please realize that you are still going to need to come up with the up front money, unless you finance your solar system of course. Here are the details about the state grant program below from dsireusa.org site:
In January 2009, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) reinstated a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) grant program. The ODOD’s Ohio Energy Office (OEO) offers grants on a first-come, first-served basis for the installation of new residential solar PV systems in the service areas of the following utilities: American Electric Power, Dayton Power & Light, Duke Energy, and FirstEnergy. These are the utilities whose customers pay into the Ohio Advanced Energy Fund, which provides funds for the incentive.
The incentive offered is $3.00/Watt of installed capacity, with a maximum incentive of $25,000.
-must be installed at an Ohio site that is the applicant’s primary residence
-the system must be grid-tied and have an output of at least two kilowatts (kW).
-Systems must be evaluated using a Solar Pathfinder or a substitute(this is to check to see what the shading is like) they don’t want to be paying grant money to solar systems that have all kinds of shade on them.
- In addition, the system must use new equipment, be grid-tied, and use a meter to measure kilowatt-hour (kWh) output. Project equipment may not be ordered, purchased, or installed prior to the execution of a grant agreement with the ODOD.
Incentives are only available for installations performed by an installer approved by the OEO. It should be noted that the approved system installer applies for and receives the grant, which is then passed directly to the end-use customer.