$5,000 – that’s how much you could be getting paid in New Jersey this year, just for having solar panels on your roof.

It may come as a surprise, but New Jersey has the best financial incentives in the country for home solar power. The combination of high electricity rates, the federal tax credit, and solar renewable energy credits (which pay you for producing renewable energy) means a typical solar array will pay for itself in just 4 years. After that it’s free electricity and, thanks to the renewable energy credit market, a viable source of income for the next 11 years.

Even without a solar rebate, NJ beats every other state, even sunny California (where solar is immensely popular):

The two left columns show New Jersey solar payback time with and without a state rebate. No rebate = no problem.
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Hi everyone, Dave Llorens here.

This afternoon I was talking to a reporter about the same thing I talk about every time: There are places in the country where the economics for home solar are so strong that it works for anyone—at least those  who don’t have a shaded or wonky roof and those who own a home. Some of these places have such great payback on solar that if you could get the proposition in front of everyone, you’d see a few homes with solar on every block.

But we’re not there yet, and we’re not even close.

We’ve always thought of that as 1BOG’s mission: to accelerate the adoption of solar and get it to where at least one in ten homes have it. We think that’s possible in huge areas of the Country, like New Jersey, California, Louisiana, Texas, and other cities.

We still have a ways to go, but that doesn’t keep me from being optimistic. Just look at the places solar is popping up these days:

1. Facebook Social Games: Social City

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Woah. We have two truly incredible seats to the June 16th U2 show at Oakland Coliseum and in one month we’re giving them away to one lucky person! To enter the drawing to win , all you have to do is get one friend or neighbor to sign up for 1BOG. It’s free for them and there’s no obligation (for real).

To participate, CLICK HERE.

The city known for jazz, Voodoo, and Mardi Gras, can add affordable solar electricity to its list of attractions.

One Block of the Grid is revving up its group discount program for home solar panel installations in New Orleans. In partnership with South Coast Solar, 1BOG has obtained a substantial mark-down to $6.65 per watt, around 15% below standard rates.  Combined with massive Louisiana solar tax credits (50%) and the government’s 30% Federal tax credit, an average house can get practically all of its power from the sun for a one-time installation price of $6,000— a cost that will be covered by energy savings within three to four years.  (These figures will vary depending on orientation towards the sun, shade, local energy prices. Check out our solar estimate tool for a quick calculation.) Read the rest of this entry »

PRESS RELEASE

Partnering with South Coast Solar, 1BOG Offers Solar Group Discounts for Homeowners

San Francisco, Calif. – April 20, 2010 – One Block Off The Grid (1BOG), the nation’s largest solar panel group discount company, today announced the launch of a New Orleans solar group purchase campaign designed to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners in New Orleans to go solar. Homeowners interested in solar power will be eligible for a discounted rate of $6.65 per watt through local installer South Coast Solar, as well as free education, support and online tools.

After a month-long vetting process, 1BOG selected South Coast Solar for their excellent group pricing, products, warranties and history of successful installations. Read the rest of this entry »

San Francisco, Calif. – March 22, 2010 – One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation’s largest solar group purchase company, today announced the launch of its latest San Francisco solar campaign, which will offer homeowners in the city of San Francisco impartial advice and a group discount rate of $5.39 per watt on home solar panel installation. After a rigorous evaluation of local solar installers, 1BOG selected San Francisco-based Luminalt as campaign partner to service the 1BOG solar community for the city of San Francisco.

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Check out awesome 1BOG customers Glenn Trewitt and Wil Renczes sharing their experiences going solar with 1BOG on CBS local news station KPIX with Len Ramirez this evening!

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=62401@kpix.dayport.com

The gang checking out our new bank account balance.

We are thrilled to announce today that VC firm NEA has invested $5 million in 1BOG! The money will support our continued growth and expansion across the US, bringing solar onto the roofs of as many Americans as possible!

NEA has also invested in household names such as Groupon, Salesforce and Tivo, as well as Bloom Energy, oPower and Suniva on the cleantech side.

Here’s the press release. Also, lots of great publications have covered the news including San Jose Mercury News, Techcrunch and CNET. Thanks to all who helped make this possible!

Great news, 1BOGers! Today we announced the first ever group purchase of solar on the east coast. We chose New Jersey for its great state and utility rebates. The incentives are so good that our CEO Dave Llorens commented, “I want to move to Jersey and buy homes, just to put solar on them.”

For this campaign, we wrangled the stellar rate of $5.45 per watt. That’s 16% cheaper than 2009 rates in the area! Our installer partner is The Solar Center, a local company based in Rockaway, and we’re glad to work together to help spread solar to many more homes in the garden state.

Tell your friends in northern New Jersey they can sign up until April 25th, 2010. As usual, sign up is free, and gives you the group rate and lots of useful solar info. The campaign includes Sussex, Passaic, Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Middlesex counties.

Take a look at our press release announcing the news, this article: Company to help Bergen County residents with solar installations that appeared New Year’s Day in The Bergen Record, or this story: Rockaway company partners up to help Morris residents explore solar power in The Daily Record that came out today. To find out more, visit our Solar New Jersey homepage, or attend our free webinar with more details on Thursday, February 18 at 7pm: http://solarnorthjersey.1bog.org/webinar.

Check out this video of 1BOG’s Dave Llorens, who visited his native New Orleans for the Pepsi Refresh Project, which doles out millions of dollars in grants each month to fund great ideas that have a positive impact on communities. Grants are submitted by consumers, then voted on by the community.

With $50,000, Dave Llorens helped five blocks of New Orleans’ homeowners go solar. What could you do? Go to www.RefreshEverything.com to get your ideas in!