The City of Glendale, located in the heart of Los Angeles County, gets better sunlight penetration than most other cities in the country. This makes the city the perfect destination for some innovative experimentation with solar energy. Many households in Glendale have solar panels installed at their homes which capture the sun’s solar energy and helps them minimize their utility bills substantially.

The Program Has Received Tremendous Response

Glendale homeowners are motivated to go solar because of the City of Glendale Solar Solutions Incentive Program. The program provides those who plan to install photovoltaic systems on their homes and buildings, an incentive to do so. There is such a huge demand among the residents for this popular incentive program that the funds for the year 2015-16 have been fully reserved and the program is currently closed until July 2016. Glendale Water And Power had budgeted an amount of $1.55 million for this program in fiscal year 2015-2016.

The Residential Solar Solutions Program of the City of Glendale provides up to $1.50 per watt for installed systems of size 30 kilowatts or less that meet program guidelines.

Other provisions of the program are:

• Incentive rates are required to decline at a rate of 7.0% per year.
• The incentive calculation must not exceed 50% of the total costs of the installed system.
• For over-sized systems the incentive is calculated according to the historical usage of the customer.
• The incentive paid will not exceed $100,000 per customer per fiscal year.

The New Standard Electric Plans Available To Residents

There are two new standard electrical plans now available for the use of residents of the City of Glendale which they can use to save time and money. These plans are based on California Solar Permitting Guidebook and updated to accommodate new requirements imposed by the City of Glendale. Of these, the first plan is designed to cover Central Inverter based systems and the second plan is designed to cover Micro Inverter based systems. These standard electrical plans are applicable for use on single-family dwellings for systems up to 10kW in size.

It Is Important To Follow Guidelines

Residents must adhere to the guidelines for installing solar systems and applying for incentives. There are guidelines also stated for those who want to apply for incentives for a system that is already installed. They must also make sure that the components they select meet the requirements as stated in the Glendale Water and Power’s Solar Solutions Incentive Program.

Smart Home Energy and Water Saving Rebate Program

Residents of the City of Glendale can also benefit from the Smart Home Energy and Water Saving Rebate Program offered by Glendale Water and Power. The program offers a number of incentives for residential customers for improving the energy efficiency of their homes. Rebates are also offered for a number of appliances that meet the required minimum efficiency levels.

Residents who want to go ahead with the installation of solar panels can do so and apply for an incentive through the Solar Solutions Incentive Program when it reopens. The program will reopen on July 1, 2016 according to the information posted on the government website.