Tag Archives: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

Solar companies invest in acres in the Midwest

Kenosha News

More and more rural electric cooperatives and individual farmers are turning to solar power as an energy alternative. Brady Boell, director of safety and member services for the Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative, says his cooperative has built five sites in Iowa since October 2018. “The idea was to offer members a way to invest in solar energy,” he says. “Many cannot install these arrays on their own property, so this allows them to invest.” Solar energy use has rapidly grown over the past two years, says Tim Dwight, president of the Iowa Solar Trade Association and owner of Integrated Power Corporation, a solar energy installer. Read more here.

Additional Recommended Reading
Bill refines solar rules with input from pork producers, Kenosha Times

Photo Credit: Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GUIDES FOR SOLAR & SMALL WIND PROJECTS

NRECA RESOURCES

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Renewable Energy Resources

Previously Posted News Release

DOE Selects NRECA for Wind Energy Research Initiative
The Department of Energy has selected the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to research small-scale, community-based wind energy solutions that can be deployed by electric cooperatives. NRECA will team with co-ops around the country to evaluate and deploy diverse types of distributed wind projects. Like NRECA’s solar deployment project, a similar DOE-funded program that accelerated utility-scale solar at co-ops across rural America, NRECA expects this project to increase the number of electric cooperatives incorporating wind applications into their resource planning. DOE has identified high technical potential for “hundreds of thousands of turbines” totaling more than 10 gigawatts of electric capacity on rural distribution grids. 

CO-LOCATION RESOURCES

Co-locating apiaries, pollinator-friendly plants, and industrial hemp with solar and wind projects can provide extra income for farmers and improve Nebraska’s honey production and retail sales, among other benefits. Click here and scroll down for a list of resources.

INCENTIVES & DEPRECIATION

Incentives for Homeowners & Businesses
Business and residential solar projects qualify for the federal solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which is now 26% through December 31, 2020.

 

 

All Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency

Resource: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

Business Equipment Depreciation Resources

LAND LEASES

Solar and wind farm leases create extra income for farmers and other landowners and provide valuable tax revenues for local communities.

An energy source that lies right under your feet

By Laura King-Homan, OPPD The Wire

More than 100 holes dot a construction site around Mammel Hall. Soon, tubing will wind through the holes to heat and cool a new addition to the building on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. The project is an example of how commercial electricity customers utilize geothermal heating and cooling to reach their energy goals. OPPD has offered expertise in this area for decades, including testing potential building sites for suitability. Continue reading here.

Photo Credit: OPPD The Wire

About Laura King-Homan

Laura King-Homan is the managing editor of The Wire and a communications specialist at the Omaha Public Power District. She has nearly 20 years of print journalism and design experience, including the Omaha World-Herald.

View all posts by Laura King-Homan


Previously Posted News & Resources

Web Links 

Examples of Nebraska homeowners who have installed geothermal heat pumps – Click on “Solar Examples” on the above menu bar and scroll down to:
Dageforde Net Positive Energy Home
Don Preister’s Home In Bellevue

Incentives for Homeowners & Businesses
Geothermal projects qualify for the Federal Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which is now 26% through December 31, 2020.
Resource: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

All Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
Resource: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

How heat pumps can cut carbon pollution from buildings

Contributed by Sarah Kennedy, ChavoBart Digital Media.
Posted on Yale Climate Connections

“These new cold climate air source heat pumps are functional down to -10, -15 degrees,” [Chris Carrick with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board] says. And they run on electricity, so they generate heat without burning oil, natural gas or other fuels on site. According to a report by the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, switching to heat pumps could dramatically reduce the carbon pollution caused by home heating. They have the most impact in places with renewable electricity. Read more here.

More Yale Climate Connections Posts / Audio 

Nebraska Information Sources on the Above Topics 

Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

DOE: U.S. Installed More Than 50 MW Of Distributed Wind In 2018

Posted by Betsy Lillian, North American Windpower

Texas, Iowa and Minnesota are the top three states for overall distributed wind capacity, and Iowa, Nevada and Alaska are the top three states for small wind capacity, although there were no new documented projects in Iowa or Nevada in 2018. Rhode Island, Ohio and Nebraska led the U.S. in new distributed wind power capacity in 2018 with large-scale turbine projects. Now in its seventh year, the Distributed Wind Market Report was funded by the DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. More on the report can be found here. Read the entire post here.

Among the Report’s Key Findings:

  • U.S. distributed wind installed capacity now stands at 1,127 megawatts (MW) from over 83,000 turbines across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.
  • In 2018, 12 states added 50.5 MW of distributed wind capacity from 2,684 turbines, representing $226 million in investment.

Photo by Dixon Power Systems, based in Lincoln, Nebraska: One of two 5-kilowatt wind turbines installed at the University of Nebraska’s Haskell Ag Lab. Click here to view a timeline video of the construction of one of the turbines and a photo of a 10-kilowatt project installed at the Prairie Hill Learning Center.

Distributed Wind Energy Association
The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) is a collaborative group comprised of manufacturers, distributors, project developers, dealers, installers, and advocates, whose primary mission is to promote and foster all aspects of the American distributed wind energy industry. Distributed wind, commonly referred to as small and community wind, is the use of typically smaller wind turbines at homes, farms, businesses, and public facilities to off-set all or a portion of on-site energy consumption.

DWEA Resources

DWEA Projects

Links to Incentives 

Business Equipment Depreciation Resources

USDA Resource

Additional Resources on Nebraska’s Wind Energy 

USDA Has More Than $400 Million Still Available for Renewable Energy System and Energy Efficiency Loan Guarantees

USDA News Release

Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley encourages farmers, rural small businesses and agricultural producers to apply for financing in a key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that provides grants and loan guarantees to help lower their energy costs. Read more here.

LINKS TO ADDITIONAL PROGRAM INFORMATION

LINKS TO INCENTIVES & MORE 

Federal Investment Tax Credit: 30% to December 31, 2019.

SEIA Infographic 

LES Solar Incentive
Additionally, LES customers may qualify for a one-time capacity payment of up to $1,000 per kilowatt of peak demand reduced. The total amount customers can receive is determined by the system size and primary direction the system is facing, for example:

  • Southern facing fixed-photovoltaic solar – the unit’s nameplate DC capacity (kW) x $375.
  • Western facing or single or dual axis tracking fixed-photovoltaic solar – the unit’s nameplate DC capacity (kW) x $475.

    Source:     Customer-owned Renewable Generation

Business Equipment Depreciation Resources

More Farm Energy Resources

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Hello, sunshine!

Written by Lynn Hartzell, Nebraska Home Sales Realtor,
Contributor, Lincoln Journal Star Lifestyle Magazine

I have to admit, there was a time in my life when I heard someone talking about Alternative Energy and I would roll my eyes. I had had a long career at a local public power company working in the power plants that produce energy with coal, diesel fuel and natural gas. They all worked pretty well, and I saw no reason to mess with success. But in 2015, my wife and I did some investigating and found that the price of solar power for residential use was coming down quickly and made financial sense. Continue reading here.

Links to Solar & Small Wind Energy Incentives & Nebraska Energy Office Loans

Federal Investment Tax Credit for solar systems and small wind turbines: 30% to December 31, 2019. Small wind: 100 kilowatts or less. Source: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

Additionally, LES customers may qualify for a one-time capacity payment of up to $1,000 per kilowatt of peak demand reduced. The total amount customers can receive is determined by the system size and primary direction the system is facing, for example:

  • Southern facing fixed-photovoltaic solar – the unit’s nameplate DC capacity (kW) x $375.
  • Western facing or single or dualaxis tracking fixed-photovoltaic solar – the unit’s nameplate DC capacity (kW) x $475.

Source: Customer-owned Renewable Generation

Business Equipment Depreciation Resources

Farms, businesses have good solar options, advocates say

By Nancy Madsen, St. Peter Herald

st-peter-herald

The time has never been better for adding solar power, developers and renewable energy experts said during a discussion and tour organized by the Minnesota Farmers Union. “Prices of solar have really come down so that utility-scale solar is at grid parity with other sources of generation in 47 states,” said Chris Meyer, southeast regional coordinator with state-created Clean Energy Resource Teams. Continue reading.

Photo: Ralph Kaehler, vice president of business development at Novel Energy Solutions, standing next to a 10-kilowatt array at the Brian Vetter farm in rural Kasota.  Credit: Nancy Madsen/St. Peter Herald

SOLAR FINANCING PROGRAM NANCY MADSEN WRITES ABOUT IN HER ARTICLE
Novel creates a payment plan based on what the tax credits and incentives are, with the remainder covered by what the property owner’s electricity bill is. The property owner will wrap up payments after about 10 years. “You’re using money you’re already spending,” Kaehler said. 

NEBRASKA RENEWABLE ENERGY & ENERGY EFFICIENCY FINANCING PROGRAMS & OTHER INCENTIVES: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) 

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Solar Energy Incentives

Hammond Farm.1

The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is operated by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

For Nebraska, DSIRE lists 45 policy, financial incentive and grant programs, including the following for solar energy and other renewables: 

Source: DSIRE – Nebraska

Photo: 25-kilowatt photovoltaic system powers the Hammond farm operation west of Benedict. The project estimate was $84,864; however, a USDA grant and federal tax credits reduced the cost to only $19,100, with a payback of just over 6 years, after which the farm will benefit from free energy. Solar panels typically last 25 or more years. Credit: Matt Ryerson / Lincoln Journal Star
News Story: Farms flexing solar power, by Nicholas Bergin, Lincoln Journal Star