ODOE Report Highlights Solar + Storage Rebate Program Progress

As of September 15, 2020, ODOE has issued 174 rebates for completed residential projects — rebate counts by Oregon county shown here. 144 more rebates are in the works.

This week, the Oregon Department of Energy submitted its first report to the Oregon Legislature outlining our progress so far for our Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program. The program issues rebates for installed solar and solar with paired storage projects for residential customers and low-income service providers across the state.

Since its launch in January, the program has already issued 174 rebates for completed residential solar projects, including 11 that also installed storage. An additional 144 rebates are reserved for projects in the works, including 33 proposed projects for low-income service providers. In total, the 318 projects represent nearly $1.3 million in rebate funds for projects in 23 of Oregon’s 36 counties!

An important goal of the rebate program is to expand access to renewable energy to low- and moderate-income Oregonians and low-income service providers. The program requires that at least 25 percent of the program funds go to those low income customers – and ODOE expects to far outpace that goal, with over half of the committed funding already set aside for them.

Going solar also means going green. So far, the 174 completed projects represent solar generation that is estimated to displace 908.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, based on the carbon intensity of the electric utility serving each project. That greenhouse gas reduction is equal to taking 196 cars off Oregon roads.

The program has about $98,000 left for rebate requests for low- and moderate-income residential and low-income service provider projects. Rebates are issued to installing contractors, who pass the savings on to their customers. Learn more and see a list of approved contractors on our website. You can also read the full 2020 Report to the Legislature online.