Free or not to be free? That is the question.
June 12, 2023
You may or may not have seen some ads on social media creep their way into your feed, claiming you can go solar for free. Polished, official looking ads from companies that appear to be fairly large, instilling trust in their message.
When free enters the conversation, I tend to listen, too. We all wish more things in life were free. With ads like these, we often find that after some research, things are not quite as they seem. But that’s what these companies are hoping you don’t do - they’re hoping you click on their ad and don’t do your research.
In Washington state, there are not any incentives to make solar free.
Let me rephrase that. Solar and battery are not free in Washington state. There are incentives to reduce the cost and make solar a positive investment for your home, but I’m sorry, there is not a special program that will make solar free.
Yes, you may find a loan to pay for your system where the monthly payments are equal to or less than your current electricity bill. THAT is possible. But, you’ll still pay for your system.
The incentives making solar a financially viable option to paying the electric company are: Net Metering, 30% federal tax credit, and no sales tax. Read more about these incentives here.
Get paid for your system’s energy?
OK, this one is a bit confusing. There used to be a program where homeowners were paid annually for energy produced by their solar systems on top of the Net Metering program, up to $5,000 per year. This incentive has expired, as the funds had been exhausted a few years ago.
Net Metering is the closest program we have to this concept, where excess energy generated by a home’s system is backfed to the grid and the utility credits the homeowner’s account in a 1-to-1 ratio for the excess. To learn more about this incentive, click here.
What’s the point of these commercials?
Great question! We don’t know and we’re not going to make assumptions about another company’s marketing tactics. All we can say is, do your research when selecting a solar installer. We’ve put together a list of questions in another blog post to help folks get started on their journey. Are we biased and think you should choose Blossom Solar? Yes. But, we treat our customers very well. Check our reviews.
We’re not a multi-state organization with our eyes on new markets, coming to swoop in and strike while the iron is hot and then leave. We’re a Washington state owned and operated solar installer. We’re in it for the long haul, just like you.
