Letter: Solar tariff not a show stopper
The 30 percent tariff on solar panels that was recently imposed by President Trump may cause damage to the solar industry, threatening thousands of solar installation jobs across the nation. However, home owners in Washington state should not be deterred from going solar. In July of 2017, Washington replenished a solar incentive that, coupled with the 30 percent federal income tax credit, yields a 5-6 year payback on a residential solar photo-voltaic (PV) systems up to 12 kW in size (~40 panels).
Tri-Cities is a prime location for roof top solar systems because of the favorable annual sun hours. Some of the benefits of going solar include fixing your electricity rate for decades, energy independence, increased home value, and reducing carbon footprint with clean, renewable, locally distributed power.
Solar panels and inverters come with a 25-year warranty and require very little maintenance due to their passive nature (no moving parts). The price of solar panels is typically 15 to 20 percent of the total cost of a solar system installed by an experienced solar contractor, so the tariff will increase price of turnkey solar system by just 5 percent and perhaps even less for industrial scale solar farms.
Chandra Romel, Richland; board member for nonprofit Solar Washington
This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Letter: Solar tariff not a show stopper."