SAN ANTONIO – A new solar program announced Monday aims to install more panels across the Alamo City for more low-income residents.
"If I want save money, I will go for it," said Victor Valdez, a homeowner, who has lived in his home in City Council District 5 for 20 years.
Oftentimes, the biggest draw for energy consumers who want to go solar is to save money on energy bills. But the high cost of installing solar panels often eliminates a lot of consumers.
"We've listened to our community," CPS Energy spokeswoman Yvonne Casanova said. "A lot of low-income customers feel that there's not enough solar programs for them to take part of."
A local company, Advanced Solar, is now offering an incentive program that will match CPS Energy's solar rebate for customers living in City Council districts 1 through 5 or for residents whose homes are worth less than $100,000.
"We're a very big city. We're very spread out, and we want to have solar panels everywhere in our city so that we can maximize our return," District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick said. Warrick said the most common places to see solar panels in San Antonio are on the North, Northwest and Northeast sides.
Advanced Solar owner Don Dickey hopes the expansion will help further establish San Antonio as a national leader in renewable-energy adoption.
The company's incentive program, along with CPS Energy rebates and tax credits, brings the out-of-pocket cost of an average system to less than $6,000. For those who can't afford the investment in full up front, Advanced Solar is offering financing options.
"Oh yeah, that's a good deal," Valdez said.
For more information or to apply for the incentive program, click here.
CPS Energy currently has more than 5,600 solar customers in their service area.