We offer two options to add incentives to a project:
Steps to Create a Custom Financial Incentive (Method 1)
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On the left sidebar, click Libraries, then click Incentives to go to the Incentives Page
- Click the orange +New Incentive button on the top-right of the screen
- Edit the name of the incentive to something memorable (click next to the pencil icon to edit)
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Click the Incentive Type drop-down to choose the desired payment structure. You can select PV and Storage incentives
PV incentives
PV Fixed Incentive: A flat dollar amount paid for the PV system, regardless of its size or cost. For example, a $1,000 rebate for installing solar.
PV System Cost (%) Incentive: An incentive calculated as a percentage of the total PV system cost. The Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is the classic example.
PV Price Per Watt Incentive: An incentive based on system size, paid as a set dollar amount for each watt of PV capacity installed. For example, $0.50/W on a 10 kW system equals $5,000.
Production Based Incentive: An incentive paid according to the energy the system actually produces, usually per kWh generated over a set number of years. This rewards performance rather than installed size or cost.
Storage incentives
Storage Fixed Incentive: A flat dollar amount for installing a battery, regardless of its size or cost.
Storage Cost (%) Incentive: An incentive calculated as a percentage of the total storage system cost.
Storage Price per Kilowatt-Hour Capacity Incentive: An incentive based on battery size, paid as a set dollar amount for each kWh of storage capacity installed. For example, $250/kWh on a 13.5 kWh battery equals $3,375.
- Configure the incentive parameters (ex., amount and year of payment)
- Click Save
After completing the steps above, you can now add your incentive to your project from the Overview page. Click the "Add Incentive" button and search for your new incentive.
Steps to Create a Custom Financial Incentive (Method 2)
Note: To learn how to edit or create a Financial Model, follow the guide to create or clone a financial model.
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On the left sidebar, click Libraries and then click Financial Models
- Click +New Financial Model to create one from scratch.
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To edit an existing one, click the desired financial model and then click Edit at the top right.
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Scroll down to the Incentives section, click the + to the right of Apply Project Incentives, and then select the desired incentive to add
- Configure the incentive parameters (ex. amount and year of payment)
- Click Save
- Update the Financial Configuration to the latest model
Please note that adding incentives this way will break down each incentive into its own column on the Financial Debug Table. However, they will not be visible from the Overview page. Additionally, if using the auto-complete smart token {incentives_total} in a report, only the last incentive added will factor into the value. If multiple incentives are added and need to be displayed in a report as a sum using this auto-complete smart token, then Method 1 above should be used exclusively.
What does a Reduced Basis on Incentive mean on a Percentage-Based Incentive?
While creating percentage-based incentives, the "Reduced Basis" toggle allows you to determine if the incentive will be calculated based on the total system cost or a lower amount.
The percentage-based incentive will be calculated based on the total system cost when the Reduced Basis is toggled off. For example, a 10% percentage-based incentive for a $300,000 project with it toggled off would be $30,000*0.1 = $3,000.
If Reduced Basis is toggled on, and your customer would be qualifying for other incentives like the US Tax Credit. To calculate the incentive, the tax credit would have to be deducted from the total system cost first. Then the Reduced Basis is multiplied by 0.1. So, following our previous example, if the Tax Credit is 26% of the system cost $300,000* 0.26 =$78,000, our new basis for the Percentage Based incentive would be $300,000 - $78,000 = $222,000. We then take our new basis of $222,000 and multiply it by 10%, $222,000*.1= $22,200.
Why am I seeing additional incentives?
Incentives can be added from both the Financials and Energy Usage tabs. If you are seeing incentives you can not delete or that are unexpected, make sure an incentive was not added to the Energy Tab as well.