Home Wind Turbine Cost Lowered By Tax Credits
Recently the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424, was passed by Congress that includes a new federal investment tax credit to assist the public in offsetting the wind turbine cost for their homes, businesses or farms. Without any delay, president Bush signed the bill into law.
The Act offers a federal tax credit for 30% of the total installed cost of any wind power system with a 100 kilowatt capacity or less, but the credit will not exceed $4,000. The limitation of the Act is that it only applies to new systems installed from 3 October 2008 through to December 2016, so any current systems will get no tax relief. In addition, for home wind turbines, the credit is further limited to the lesser of $4,000 or $1,000 per kW of capacity.
America, who has typically lead the worldwide small wind turbine market recently begun to feel pressure from other nations that offered enticing incentives for small renewable energy systems. So the new legislation was warmly welcomed by a Small Wind Advocate of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Ron Stimmel, who said:
“We thank Congress for recognizing and supporting small wind systems as an important contributor toward energy security and a cleaner environment. This credit will help individuals cut their electric bills while combating global warming in a tangible way.”
This bill is the first federal incentive for small wind turbines since 1985, and industry members believe the credit could grow the U.S. wind power market by 40% or more annually. And along with the upcoming equipment certification scheme, it will help secure it as the global leading market.
To put the industry on equal grounds with the photovoltaic (PV) solar industry, the AWEA, and its members have long requested a 30% federal investment incentive for small wind turbines 100kW and smaller. And now their persistence has paid off.
Since the two industries share the same renewable energy market, the wide legislation also expands on a similar credit for the PV solar industry that was first enacted in 2005. Domestic PV solar systems now receive a 30% credit, limited to $4,000, and commercial installations can get the same, but uncapped, credit.
So how does this act affect anyone who has installed their own system? By the looks of things, diy renewable energy enthusiasts can also enjoy the federal tax credit as long they have proof of all installation costs and the date they were incurred. But, it is best to get sound legal advice first to help you maximize any tax credit due.
With the new tax credit, coupled with potential state-side credits, we cannot see a better time for anyone to invest in their own renewable energy system at home and offset the wind turbine cost. Whether this means getting an expensive professionally installed solar/wind power hybrid, or learning to do it yourself, potential electricity savings are a decision away. At the end of the day the choice is yours.
Tim McDonald and his wife have been living off the grid since June 2008. He recommends you Try Earth4Energy For FREE before you go out and start any home wind turbine project.
Low Cost Wind Turbine Plans
Wow! Is it ever hard to find low cost wind turbine plans. A couple years ago when we went online looking for wind turbine plans we found plenty of sources of them.
The problem was that all of the authors seemed to want to prove to me how smart they were. I knew there was a better way to build a wind generator then going to university to learn all of the terms so we set out to build our own wind generator.
I thought it was going to be a monumental task, but in reality it only took us about 2 weekends to complete… and the best part is it could pass for one of those fancy commercial models.
Our wind generator produces 1000 watts at wind speeds of around 15MPH. We went ahead and built a second one so that our solar system wouldn’t have to be as big. Right now we could last for about a week on batteries if the sun didn’t shine and the wind didn’t blow. The funny thing is that usually if the sun isn’t shining the winds blowing and vice versa.
The goal when we built our wind generator was to build it for $500. I’m happy to say that we only spent $150. We got the motor off of eBay for cheap. The tower was free (yes, you can get free towers), the blades were made from 8″ sewer pipe cut into a special shape, and we had to buy some other assorted nuts and bolts at the hardware store.
You will also need to go to Radio Shack (or circuit city I guess) and purchase a diode. A diode is an interesting little component. It only allows electricity to flow in one direction. This little piece of hardware is crucial for your wind generator. Without it your batteries will start to spin it around instead of it producing power to fill them. I made this mistake right after we finished and I hooked it up. It was a calm day and to my surprise it started spinning like mad! After we got the diode hooked up it worked quite well though.
So the next time you’re looking around at low cost wind turbine plans on the internet just remember that the author probably wants to show you how smart he/she is. Make sure to contact them first and ask them whether or not a beginner would be able to figure them out. And remember, if we could build a wind turbine then you can to.
Andrew Oke is very interested in renewable energy.He has 16 years experience living off the grid, and has completely built his own renewable energy system. Visit his website at Low Cost Wind Turbine Plans
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Geothermal Heat Pump ? a green and cost effective technology
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Making a DIY Solar Panel System
www.solardave.com SolarDave: Please tell me about your solar panel system and how you saved some money? Adam Stevenson: The total of the system and materials was $22K. I ended up spending about another $1800 in permit fees and a structural engineer and $400 for an electrician, several hundred dollars for a guy to come help me out for the two afternoons he spent with me. Xcel (Energy) gave me $16538 rebate. Fix cost based on the number of kilowatts you are installing and has nothing to do with how much you pay the permit office or the electrician. My final cost after rebate was $7237. (SolarDave note: that is cheap!) I started my research in solar probably about a year before I actually installed it went and got a couple of bids from some of the local solar people both from contractors that my friends have used as well as just searching the internet and while talking to one of the guys I find of developed a good feeling from him, and I asked the question “Would it be possible to do some of the work myself” and kind of learn along the way he said “Sure I absolutely support the do-it-yourself-er (DIY) so I said why don’t you throw me bids, what it would cost just come home and have solar one day and what it would cost to have it done where I do some or all the work myself. And throw them both to me and I said let’s try the second one. The guys name is Steve Cross from Sun Spot Solar. I gave him my electric bills and said this is how much I think I need to generate and he …