{"id":505,"date":"2016-11-17T09:41:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T14:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/?p=505"},"modified":"2016-11-17T09:41:26","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T14:41:26","slug":"solar-energy-questions-and-answers-for-maryland-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/2016\/11\/17\/solar-energy-questions-and-answers-for-maryland-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Energy Questions and Answers for Maryland Residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"solar-q-and-a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Information about \u201cFree\u201d solar for Maryland homeowners is everywhere. Here are answers from the Maryland Energy Administration.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Question:<\/u><\/strong> I’ve seen advertisements offering free solar for my home.\u00a0 Is it really possible to get free solar in Maryland?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/u><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0Some solar companies try to entice customers by claiming to provide \u201cfree\u201d solar.\u00a0 These claims might be disguised as \u201carticles\u201d delivering \u201cnews.\u201d\u00a0 BEWARE\u2014You cannot get solar for free<\/u>. Although you might be able to get a solar energy system with no or minimal up front cost if you sign a lease or a power purchase agreement (PPA), you will still have to have to make regular payments for the duration of your lease or PPA.<\/p>\n

Question:<\/u><\/strong> The State of Maryland has a program that pays to install<\/em> solar energy systems for homeowners and businesses. Is this true?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/u><\/strong> No, the State of Maryland does not have a program that pays the complete costs to install solar energy systems for Maryland homeowners and businesses.<\/p>\n

Maryland\u2019s Residential Clean Energy Grant Program<\/a> does offer a limited grant (currently $1,000) to eligible Maryland residents who install a qualifying solar PV system. \u00a0Similarly, Maryland\u2019s Commercial Clean Energy Grant Program<\/a> offers a grant to eligible Maryland businesses, nonprofits, and local and State government agencies that install a qualifying solar PV system. \u00a0The Commercial Clean Energy Grant amount is calculated at a specified rate per kW of installed system capacity (current rate can be found on the commercial Program webpage)<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0 The Maryland Energy Administration offers limited reimbursable grants for Maryland home owners<\/a> and businesses<\/a> that upgrade to clean, renewable solar<\/a> energy systems. \u00a0For more information, visit us at www.Energy.Maryland.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FAQs:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is a solar lease?<\/u><\/strong> If you lease, the solar company owns and installs the solar energy system, and you sign a contract to use the system.\u00a0\u00a0 You will have to pay a monthly leasing fee for the duration of the lease. \u00a0You use the electricity generated by your system, but you also pay your utility for any electricity you use in excess of whatever your system provides.<\/p>\n

What is a power purchase agreement?<\/u><\/strong> A PPA is similar to a lease.\u00a0 If you have a PPA, a solar project developer owns the solar energy system and installs it on your home.\u00a0 You pay the developer for the energy generated by the solar system, and you pay the utility for any electricity you use in excess of whatever your system provides.<\/p>\n

Warning:\u00a0 If you lease or have a PPA, your payments could increase over time.\u00a0 Read the agreement carefully and make sure you understand your options.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0 You might be able to install a solar energy system on your house with a low or no initial down payment, but the solar system will not actually be \u201cfree.\u201d Please be aware: certain state and federal financial incentives are available only if you purchase<\/u> your solar energy system.\u00a0 Learn more about your options for financing a solar energy system before you decide.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/u><\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Solar Leases & PPAs <\/a><\/p>\n

Solar panel incentives, rebates & tax breaks \u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

Maryland consumers having a complaint concerning a solar installer in Maryland should file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division<\/a> Online complains may be filed here<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All information presented on this site is for general information purposes and is not\u00a0legal advice.\u00a0 The information may not be current and is subject to change without notice.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Links to websites are provided for information only.\u00a0 MEA does not control or maintain the material presented on non-MEA websites. \u00a0MEA does not assume responsibility for the material presented on non-MEA websites.\u00a0 If you use any of these links, you will leave our site.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Information about \u201cFree\u201d solar for Maryland homeowners is everywhere. Here are answers from the Maryland Energy Administration. Question: I’ve seen advertisements offering free solar for my home.\u00a0 Is it really possible to get free solar in Maryland? Answer: \u00a0\u00a0Some solar companies try to entice customers by claiming to provide \u201cfree\u201d  …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[42,25,10,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-main","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":509,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}