Does Solar work in Seattle? Absolutely!
Seattle receives as much sun as Germany, the world's leading solar market! Solar Electric Systems (also called photovoltaic) convert sunlight directly into electricity you can use in your home or business. With a photovoltaic system, you buy less electricity from your utility. If your system produces more electricity than you need at any given moment, the unused electricity goes back to the grid, spinning your utility meter backwards. This process is called "net metering."

Is Solar Right for You?
Yes, if you...

• Own the building or home where you want to install solar
• Have a roof in good shape and shade-free
• Are interested in making a long-term investment to protect yourself from rising energy costs and want to reduce your environmental impact.

Solar Energy:

• Is a long-term investment that increases in value as energy costs rise.
• Reduces your "carbon footprint" – the amount of greenhouse gases produced by your home or business, which in turn lessens your overall impact on the environment.
• Costs between $8,000 and $10,000 per kilowatt (average residential systems are 1 to 3 kilowatts).
• Is eligible for incentives offered by Washington State of $0.15 to $0.54 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) generated (by a solar electric system) with a cap of $2,000 per year.
• Is eligible for a federal tax credit equal to 30% of the system cost.
• Properly installed solar electric systems will provide a reliable and low-maintenance source of electricity for many years

Solar Talk:

• Customer Generation - generation of electricity using customer-owned equipment on a customer's premises intended to primarily offset a customer's electricity use.
• Solar Electric Generation - generation using solar electric (photovoltaic) equipment, typically solar modules and power inverters for home or business use.
• Interconnection - customer generation that is connected to and operates in parallel with Seattle City Light's distribution system (or "grid"), subject to interconnection standards.
• Net Metering - standard metering of electricity use with a bi-directional meter that accounts for customer generation and provides billing credits for excess or "net" production during a billing period.
• Net Metering System - Per state and city codes, a facility that produces electricity from renewable energy, fuel cell or combined heat and power system, less than 100 kilowatts (kW) in capacity and that operates in parallel with a utility distribution system located on a customer's premises.
• Production Metering - additional metering used to measure the electricity produced by a customer generation system which is required to apply for production incentives.