ACT NOW for Residential Solar
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ACT NOW for Residential Solar
The roll back for federal support of clean energy signed into law in July 2025 included the end of the 30% tax credit for residential solar and home battery storage systems. If you want to obtain this Residential Clean Energy Credit you will need to have your residential solar and/or battery storage system installed and operational by December 31, 2025. Permits for solar systems take a couple of months to secure and many solar companies are reporting substantial demand. If you want to take advantage of this tax credit ACT NOW.
Get a bid from an Energy Trust of Oregon Allied Contractor through the ETO Solarize Lake Oswego webpage.
Why add solar to your home?
- You add clean energy to the grid.
- Oregon’s goal is to have investor-owned utilities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030. In 2024, PGE was only one third of the way to
meeting that emission target. When Oregonians add solar they help meet this goal.
- Oregon’s goal is to have investor-owned utilities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030. In 2024, PGE was only one third of the way to
- You save money on your energy bills.
- The break-even point is reported between 8-14 years—after that you have paid off your system and your electricity is free. Residential solar systems usually last 25 years.
- Electricity prices continue to rise, so solar purchased now is a hedge against future electricity price increases.
- You add value to your home.
- A recent study showed residential solar increases the value of your home by an average of 6.9%.
- Homes with solar sell faster than those without solar.
- In Oregon, this increased value is exempt from property tax increase.
- If you add a battery system, you will be energy resilient.
- You will ensure that you have electricity during power outages.
What are the characteristics of homes that can add solar?
- Your house is a primary or secondary home, not a home you are renting.
- Your roof planes face south, east or west.
- Your roof does not have substantial shade.
- Obstruction by shade can be determined by satellite imagery.
- More refined analysis can be completed by your contractor.
- Your roof is in good condition and has at least 10 years of roof life.
What are the financial advantages of solar?
The federal tax credit is 30%.
- It is only valuable to homeowners who pay federal taxes.
- Make sure you have enough tax liability to take advantage of this tax credit.
- At this time, some tax liability can be carried forward to future years.
- Example: For a system that costs $30,000, the federal tax credit would be $9,000.
Energy Trust of Oregon offers additional rebates. These rebates will continue beyond the federal cut-off. For residents in Lake Oswego, they include:
- $850 for solar.
- $350/kWh for battery storage systems up to $4,200.
- You must use an Energy Trust of Oregon allied contractor to access this rebate.
Financing
- Financing of systems is common.
- Installers may offer financial plans.
- Credit unions may have loans tailored to solar.
Net Metering
- In the summer, during the day you will generate more electricity than you can use. This electricity will flow back into the grid. PGE will give you credit for this electricity.
- During the winter, when you are not generating enough electricity, PGE will supply you with electricity and you will pay the bill using the credits you’ve accrued from PGE in summer.
- This is called “net metering”.
- These credits roll over from month to month through the year, but not from year to year.
- If you have not used your credits by March 31, they are donated to low-income subscribers or nonprofits.
- When you purchase your system, your contractor will size your system based on your past use by looking at your PGE bills so that your net-metering credits fit your usage.
When you request a bid through the ETO Solarize Lake Oswego Website, installers will be clear with you if they can complete the work by December 31 so that you will be eligible for the 30% federal tax credit.
Community Solar Works for Me – And Surprised Me, Too
By Jim Newcomer, LOSN
I’m a subscriber to community solar power, so I warn you that I’m writing with a bias: I love it. But wait, there’s more: I’m part of an experiment that could increase our nation’s vegetable supply. What?
First, here’s my experience with the program. About two years ago my wife and I, who rent our home, wanted to access electricity that was procured from clean, renewable sources that would produce few greenhouse gas emissions – that is, not from coal or natural gas. Since we could not erect solar panels on our landlord’s roof, we signed up for Community Solar Power through the Oregon Community Solar Project.
At first we were disappointed – all their available solar farms were fully subscribed, and we were put on a waiting list. After a couple of months, though, a new project opened near us, and they accepted us as a subscriber. Immediately we began to receive electricity from it.
Nothing changed at our house. No new wires were connected; no adapters were required. We still got our power through those same PGE lines along our street, but PGE was receiving electrons from our solar farm and providing the equivalent flow of electrons to us from their power line. (Important concept – equivalent flow. It means we do not actually receive electrons from our solar farm into our home!)
We were informed that a company named Arcadia, a national firm that builds and manages solar farms in several states, had invested in our local solar farm and was managing our connection from there to PGE. We receive regular updates from them and we still, just as before, receive a monthly bill from PGE that oddly enough contains no mention of Arcadia or, for that matter, our connection to solar. We now receive normal electric service round the clock, of course, rain or shine, and we also experience all the power outages that occur to PGE customers. But I get a little rush of pleasure every time I think of our lights being powered by our solar farm!
I’ll add that in our experience the attraction of saving money on our monthly electric bill is virtually negligible – maybe $5 a month. Our satisfaction comes from knowing that despite renting our home, when we turn on the lights our energy comes directly from the sun instead of from a coal-fired generator or a natural gas turbine. We can say, just as if we had solar panels on our roof, most of our electricity is now clean and renewable.
Now here’s how we were surprised: Solar Harvest, the solar farm that produces our energy, is in a six-acre field not far from the airport in Aurora, down I-5 less than ten miles from our home. Then we discovered a second surprise: the Solar Harvest Farm near Aurora is operated by Oregon State University’s College of Agriculture as an experimental marriage of solar panels and farming.
There, under the rows of photovoltaic (PV) panels, they are planting shade-tolerant crops such as alfalfa, arugula, beets, bok choy, cabbage, carrots, chard, garlic, onions, parsley, radish, spinach, sweet potato, turnips and yams. To make it work, they have even enabled some of the solar panels to tilt up to allow tractors to pass.
Their purpose? To see if growing things under and among solar panels would increase production by cooling the ground in hot summer months and saving water. And it does! In their report evaluating the results from these last few summers, the authors come as close to waxing ecstatic as academic authors are allowed:
“Lettuce alone could justify a national project in agrivoltaics,” they report. “In 2012, U.S. farmers grew lettuce on 267,100 acres. PV panels on that land could generate 77 GW of electricity, more than the total U.S. installed capacity (60 GW) of PV power in 2018. Research by Prof. Chad Higgins, Solar Harvest Principal Investigator, shows that converting just 1% of the world’s agricultural land to agrivoltaics would offset global energy demand.”
Even more surprising, they have discovered an echo effect that boosts the benefits in the other direction as well: growing crops under PV panels cools the panels in return and thereby actually increases the efficiency of their solar production by some ten percent. It works both ways: PV panels increase vegetable production, and vegetable production increases electrical generation from the PV panels.
Just by signing up for free, in fact, saving $5 per month on our electricity bill, we get to be part of a grand, successful scientific experiment that will benefit people all over the world as well as slow climate change. What’s not to like?
As an obvious next step, Columbia Insight reported in 2023 that the OSU Extension Service is spreading this new idea among Oregon farmers: they don’t have to give up growing crops if they accept a solar farm on their land. In fact, they might even increase their yields in the fields when they erect photo-voltaic panels. The implications of that for agriculture are stunning.
All that information and satisfaction sprung from my family’s easy buy-in to a piece of a community solar project.
For more information, Electrify Now features short videos on its website about the advantages of signing up with community solar. And you can sign up there to connect. For even more detailed information, Electrify Now sponsored a free 45-minute webinar entitled “Community Solar – the Best-Kept Secret in Renewable Energy,” on July 17 featuring leaders of several of these community solar power organizations in a discussion of the state of community solar power today. The webinar recording is available here.
When you are ready you can join too, through any of these gateways: Oregon Clean Power Cooperative, Common Energy, or Electrify Now.
Advocating for a safe future in Lake Oswego
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What the City of Lake Oswego Is Doing
Park and Recreation Department
Submitted by Jeff Munro, Deputy Director
The City of Lake Oswego has already taken important steps to eliminate gas-powered equipment from its contracted landscape services for 200 city-owned sites and has replaced much of the gas-powered equipment used by Parks and Public Works.
The Parks Department’s transition to electric tools aligns with our dedication to maintaining beautiful parks while being kind to our earth and environment. We have added all types of electric equipment including blowers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, push mowers, riding mowers, utility vehicles, and a new Ford F-150 that can power up equipment in the field. Our Parks Multiple Site Landscape Contract also requires that the contractor that maintains some of our facilities & parks only use electric equipment to perform their maintenance tasks.
Our commitment to Sustainability is powering our parks with electric tools and vehicles that reduce emissions and minimize our carbon footprint. The Parks Department will continue to integrate this electric initiative into daily practice and continue to source new equipment and battery types along with continuing with the City Council’s goals on climate and sustainability practices with fleet policies.
Public Works Department
The Public Works Department has had an electric contract with STORM Landscape Services since 2021.
STORM Landscape Services is a commercial landscape company that has 6 crews that are all electric. In a recent interview, Randy Mihaldo shared details about his work with the City and his transition to electric landscaping equipment. Read the full story…
Transitioning to Electric Landscaping Equipment: A Case Study with Mountain Park HOA
Submitted by Tod Blankenship, Director of Landscape Stewardship
I personally have been researching and purchasing small battery equipment for over 10 years. When I was with the City of Wilsonville, I began spearheading a transition to Stihl battery-powered small equipment. Stihl has long been a champion of landscape equipment. When it comes to committing to battery-powered equipment there are many factors to be considered beyond the craftsmanship and reliability of the tool itself. It is also a commitment to batteries and chargers. Stihl has been at the forefront of battery technology, and it was an easy decision for us.
