The solar industry in Tucson has been experiencing a number of changes regarding the TEP utility incentives. We are happy to keep you in the loop: below you will find answers to some common questions. Is there still money for solar? The incentive for solar electric (photovoltaic) systems in Tucson Electric Power (TEP) service territory has been reduced from $0.50 to $0.20/watt due to high demand. In just the first month of this year, 25% of TEP's annual solar incentive budget was reserved. At the beginning of May 50% of the annual budget was reserved, dropping the incentive just $0.05. In July the incentive dropped again to $0.50/watt when 75% of the budget was reserved. This latest drop results from 90% of the budget being reserved. This reflects the fact that over 815 systems have been reserved so far in 2012, most of which are solar electric systems. Where will TEP's incentive go from here? The new $0.20/watt incentive will remain until all of the annual budget is reserved. What does this tell us? The first incentive drop indicates that there was pent up demand from the fall, when no incentives were available, and that at the $0.75/watt incentive level, solar was a good enough deal that many people were motivated to install systems. At the $0.60 level, solar remained a great deal under the leasing model. At the $0.20/watt level, both leased and customer-owned systems are experiencing a similar pay back period. More questions? Call us at 520.740.0736