Solar companies seek help from Md. law (Baltimore)

Companies that install solar water heaters are pleading for a new law that would make it easier to cover the costs of and even make money off their systems.

The solar power that most people think of, generated by black photovoltaic panels, is often financed through a marketplace for solar renewable energy credits, or SRECs. The income credits help offset the high up-front cost and slow payoff of solar systems.

But solar-powered heaters don’t qualify for the SREC program. A Maryland state delegate is working on a bill that would change that. Unlike solar panels, you can’t sell a solar renewable energy credit for the power you have generated since the heaters don’t supply power to the grid.

The legislation is still being drafted and would be coming late in the legislative session. But the companies are hopeful it will give their business a boost as many other forms of renewable energy are seeing more government incentives.

Read the full story in the Baltimore Business Journal.