Production Incentives

WA State Senate Bill 5101

 In order to assist in meeting the growing need for additional energy production, Washington State’s Senate Bill 5101, the Renewable Energy Production Incentive, was passed in 2005, and has been hailed as “the most important solar legislation ever introduced in any American state legislature,” by Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, president of the Bullitt Foundation and chair of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). 

Mike Nelson of Washington State University and The Northwest Solar Center, using the German incentive model, helped to pen this legislation, and explains: “Effectively, owners of solar systems become micro-utilities, producing a revenue stream from their investment in renewable resources.”

The incentives apply to power generated as of July 1, 2005, and remain in effect through June 30, 2020.  The producer can be a home or a business. The incentive amount paid to the producer starts at a base rate of $0.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), capped at $5,000 per year, and is adjusted by multiplying the incentive by the following factors:

Factor 1:  Electricity produced using solar modules manufactured in Washington State, such as Efficient Life Technology’s Starborn Module:
Multiply by 2.4
($0.15 x 2.4 = $0.36/kWh)

Factor 2:  Electricity produced using a solar system equipped with an inverter manufactured in Washington state:
Multiply by 1.2
($0.15 x 1.2 = $0.18/kWh)

Factor 3:  Electricity produced using solar modules manufactured in Washington state & an inverter manufactured in Washington state:
Multiply by 3.6
($0.15 x 3.6 = $0.54/kWh)