Solar Panels for Businesses in West Palm Beach

Solar Panels for Businesses in Palm Beach, Florida

Learn about the financial incentives available for businesses and commercial properties looking to install solar panels in Palm Becah, Florida.

Living in the Sunshine State, solar roofing systems seem like a natural choice. In addition to their environmental benefits, solar panels also provide commercial building owners with lower operating costs through a reduction in energy bills, tax credits and a variety of other long-term savings for businesses.

With an average of 234 sunny days a year, Palm Beach businesses are taking advantage of the sun to turn it into clean energy while building sustainable, environmentally-responsible companies. Competitive solar installation costs combined with a state-wide net metering incentive results in an impressive ROI for Palm Beach businesses. Cities like West Palm Beach have established a greenhouse gas reduction goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and have identified key reduction strategies, including solar energy. Palm Beach County currently has SolSmart Silver status and is working to achieve Gold designation. SolSmart is a U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative that recognizes communities that have made it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar.

Top benefits of installing solar panels for Palm Beach:

Lower Energy Bills

Even during the stormy Florida summer days, solar panels continue to attract energy, and this indirect light is enough to power a commercial building. Commercial solar panels can help offset your entire building’s need for power during peak kilowatt hours (most expensive times to use electricity) and can switch your system back to the power grid when utility rates are down again. As an added benefit, net metering allows the extra energy that your system produces to be sent back to your electric utility’s grid. Your utility company will then credit you for the excess energy that your system produces. That credit will be applied to your next bill, lowering your monthly costs and increasing your monthly savings. Solar provides immediate energy savings from Day 1 and long-term savings throughout the life of the system. As utility rates increase so do your electricity bill savings, and your system eventually pays for itself.

Tax Credits

The federal solar tax credit allows you to deduct 30% of the cost of installing a solar energy system from your federal taxes through 2019. The solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) can be claimed as soon as the construction of the system begins. The ITC, combined with a new 100%  bonus depreciation benefit for businesses, can help reduce the system price by as much as 60%. Add that to savings from a reduced utility bill, and business owners are looking at a solid investment. The ITC decreases to 26% for projects that begin construction in 2020, 22% for projects that begin construction in 2021, and a permanent 10% rate for projects after 2021. Commercial projects which have commenced construction before December 31, 2021, may still qualify for the 30, 26 or 22% ITC if they are placed in service before December 31, 2023.

Solar Incentives offered by the State include:

  • Property Tax Exemptions: Commercial building owners can receive an 80% property tax abatement to exclude the value that a solar system adds to their property. This tax benefit applies to devices installed on or after January 1, 2018, and expires December 31, 2037.
  • State sales tax exemptions are also offered to Florida commercial building owners, resulting in a 6% savings.

Attractive Solar Financing Offers

Although the cost of switching to solar has decreased substantially over the years, installing panels is still a considerable investment. Luckily, there are several financing options that make solar more accessible. The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is a financing option for energy efficiency and conservation projects available to business owners in Florida. PACE pays for 100% of a project’s costs and is repaid for up to 20 years with an assessment added to the property’s tax bill. PACE financing can also be combined with utility, local and federal incentive programs. It may stay with the building upon sale and is easy to share with tenants.

Six county-approved PACE Providers operate in unincorporated Palm Beach County in cities and towns that do not already have a program, and in cities and towns that have a program but have also taken appropriate legislative action to participate in the County PACE program. Some municipalities have their own PACE programs as well, so it is best to check with your city for information regarding municipality-specific PACE programs and whether or not your city also participates in the Palm Beach County PACE program.

Solar Return on Investment Palm Beach

The typical solar investment can see a return on investment (ROI) in five to 10 years when using the ITC and accelerated depreciation. Advanced Roofing, Inc. (ARI) values ROI based on energy consumption combined with intangibles such as preserving the rooftop and other additional benefits.

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