San Antonio gets FIT: "Municipally-owned CPS Energy of San Antonio, Tex. has developed a a feed-in tariff (FIT) to encourage development of distributed solar power systems. The feed-in tariff system originated in Germany, where it sparked a solar boom, sending Germany to the forefront of the solar energy revolution.
The CPS Solartricity Producer Program provides that owner of a grid-tied PV system be paid 27 cents per kilowatt-hour for the electricity that system produces. CPS then sells the energy to other consumers.
According to a news release, CPS Energy plans to begin accepting Solartricity Producer applications in January 2010.
The program won't be useful to most residential customers. Only systems producing 25 to 500 kilowatts are eligible, while 10 kw is the normal ceiling for a rooftop installation. It will be profitable venture for a business with a large warehouse roof or some vacant land. With the 30% federal tax credit, an investment in a large thin-film array could pay for itself in about 30 months and then generate $8,000 to $20,000 net revenue annually.
CPS Energy will accept applications over a two-year period and will seek to add up to 5 megawatts (MW) of solar production in each of those two years. Preliminary plans call for Solartricity producers to sign 20-year agreements.
FIT and similar programs have been launched by individual utilities in California, Florida, Washington State and Vermont."
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