alternative energy sources

Not that I know of. I think the core of the problem is that WAPA will not reimburse people/companies that put power into the grid - unlike most of the USofA.

One of my father's favorite shirts was:

God said:
"let there be light."

/Sun with a cloud obscuring it

WAPA said:
"not a chance."

Lip...Set you a PM 🙂

Hmmm.... NoOne might not know whats going on....

WAPA started net metering last August and there are rebates available on the Federal AND local lvl that make solar more feasable than ever before here in the USVI. The new federal rebate is AWESOME...30% with no cap!! it used to be capped at $2000. This new rebate applies to all systems put into comission after Jan 1st.

In many ways its actually better than stateside... The key is to size your system correcty. If you produce more power than you consume...you gain energy credits at the SAME rate at which they charge you. This carries over , week to week, month to month, but on Jan 1 if you have excess they take it. If you produce your own power you offset your wapa bill, and protected against future rate hikes. A grid tied, net metered system without batteries is a VERY efficient system and can pay off alo faster than one might think. It is more expensive NOT to go with solar.

Cory K.

i wish it was a rebate that the feds give you, but my understanding is that it is a tax credit, so for those with not much income, or tax liability, it doesn't help much. i think the credit can only be carried forward one year. i wish the feds would have a real rebate or grant system, it would really increase the demand by ordinary people.
massachusetts has a great rebate system, whereby you get a real rebate of $5.50 per watt of production. normal installs run about $7.50 per watt, so that is a huge percentage of the cost. unfortunately you have to pay the whole amount up front, and you have to sign an agreement that lets them back out of the rebate award, after signing, so you could get left holding the bag for the whole amount. they have never rescinded a rebate yet, but i didn't want to be the first one.
also the massachusetts net metering credits carry forward forever, and if you have other accounts with same utility you can credit more than one account from one solar production site. pretty cool stuff.

I was talking to one of my CA buddies and he said:
- CA has had net metering, similar to USVI (credit for reverse power, credits expire on Jan 1)
- they have supposedly stopped the the credit-zeroing and they now pay you for left over credits
- the problem was that everyone that had large expiring credits in Dec were running their air conditioners at full blast to eat up the credits.

my mistake in wording Geoff...yes it is a tax credit from the fed, and a rebate from the VI Energy Office.

Unfortunately, alot of people dont even qualify for the federal tax credit. FInancing for systems now becomes that much more important. We are currently working on a way to lower the borrowing rate for lower income families.

There will be a solar hot water program that will start territory wide very soon. Very exciting!! and will help anyone with a WAPA account, regardless of financial status. A pilot program will start in the next couple months starting with 300 systems.

The current solar panel rebate offered through the VI Energy office is 3.50/per watt(max 1k) or $3500 per cycle(year). There is a local bill that could double the rebate that is currently being considered. I wish they would make a decision already...!!!

Cory K.