 | Vice President Joe Biden's economic recovery plan, Recovery Through Retrofit, has a framework for states to set up taxes that allow homeowners and business owners to install photovoltaic solar systems, along with other renewable energy retrofits, and pay for the improvements over 20 years through a property tax assessment. The buzz started with Tom Bates, the Mayor of Berkeley, California. He drafted financing legislation that made it easy for municipalities to create financing plans. The whole goal - eliminate the expensive up-front cost of a solar system. | |
| The assessment stays with the property, not the buyer. The plan allows the homeowner to have no up-front cost for the solar system. Instead, they pay $180 a month on their property tax. Anywhere that this plan has been put into action, business has expanded. This is because the cost of the property tax is offset almost entirely by the electricity produced by the solar system, protecting the homeowner from raising costs of electricity and encouraging them to be more energy efficient. Demand for clean, renewable energy is present; only political barriers lie in the way. Rich Hessler
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Joe Biden's Plan - Recovery Through Retrofit
