Utah company offers huge financial break for homeowners to invest in solar

Utah company offers huge financial break for homeowners to invest in solar


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Here at KSL Local, we are determined to help you find the best in regards to local information, services, restaurants and much more.

This week we've teamed up with Intermountain Wind and Solar(commonly known as IWS) to talk about financial incentives and options for solar panels.

For those considering making an investment in solar energy for their homes, finding ways the Rocky Mountain Power solar incentive lottery is kind of a big deal. In fact, Rocky Mountain Power has made $10 million available this year for solar rebates.

Naturally, with it being a lottery, not everyone wins. Nearly 2,900 applications were submitted making the chance of winning very slim. If you applied and didn't win, or missed the opportunity all together, don't worry, there is another solution to help offset the cost making your home run on solar energy.

The Intermountain Community Solar Initiative, a bulk purchasing program, was started two years ago by IWS, Utah's largest solar installation company.

The program travels from county to county throughout the intermountain west providing bulk purchase discounts to homeowners while offering free educational workshops in each area.

Photo credit: Intermountain Wind and Solar

The program runs for six weeks after which there is a deadline to register if you want in on the group purchase. By getting large groups of homeowners together IWS can purchase in bulk and pass the savings on to the homeowner.

The program usually saves the new solar system owner $4,000 - $6000. "It's a way for us to offer large volume discounts without sacrificing quality or service," says Doug Shipley, CEO of IWS.

The initiative has experienced great popularity with other programs trying to mimic the model without success. Thousands of solar panels have been ordered and over 85 Free workshops have been hosted all across Idaho and Utah.

"These workshops are an important piece of the program as they educate people about the basics of solar and clear up a lot of common misconceptions that can confuse someone about investing in it" Shipley says. " We have people come up afterwards and say, ‘thank you, that is exactly what I needed.'"

Photo credit: Intermountain Wind and Solar

The current bulk purchase is a special round open to the entire state of Utah, not just a single county like usual. "This is our way of creating an opportunity for those that didn't win the Rocky Mountain Power Solar incentive" explains Justin Munk, who manages the program.

"We affectionately call it the Rocky Mountain Power Losers bulk purchase." Justin says this year's round will be the biggest in company history. The deadline to join is February 27th at 5:00pm.

There are two workshops remaining for this round, one on February 11th and the other on February 17th at 6:30 p.m. These workshops are held at the company headquarters as to provide an opportunity to tour the 10,000 square foot warehouse for hands on learning.

If you would like to participate the next step is to have a solar site assessor visit your home to determine how much solar you need and how much you can save on you monthly power bill. Click here for more information.

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