Places of worship play an important part of San Antonio living. They provide a place for a community to come together for a sense of belonging, education, and spiritual growth. Despite the value they bring us, temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues still have bills to pay. So what’s one way they can cut down on its overhead without laying off any of its (most of the times) overworked staff? Going solar might be a viable option.
No Federal Tax Liability Means Faster Savings
Prior to 2023, if a nonprofit organization wanted to go solar, they wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the solar tax credit due to no federal tax liability. However, things have changed. Nonprofit organizations like churches can apply for direct reimbursement equal to the value of the tax credit, which is currently 30% of the installation and system cost. This makes going solar a lot more affordable and greatly reduces a church’s ROI timeframe. 30% not enough off the cost? The tax credit increases to 40% when US-made solar panels are used. Just another benefit of Mission Solar’s manufacturing plant being a stone’s throw away from our main office – faster delivery and more savings.
Bonus Credits
Okay, 40% off the system’s cost in the form of direct reimbursement is pretty great, but that’s just the start of incentives for churches going solar. More savings are available if a church is looking to drop the cost of solar. For example, if they serve certain populations such as low-income households or veterans, they could qualify for more federal credits. Additionally, some utility companies like CPS Energy and NBU offer rebates for commercial property up to $80,000. For information on how the CPS Energy rebate works, check out our rebate section of the commercial property page.
Non-Financial Bonus Credits
Solar panels are a clean and safe (actually the safest) form of renewable energy available to most places of worship in the San Antonio area. By reducing their electric bill they’re reducing their reliance on contributions while promoting conservation and environmental stewardship. A common environmental concern people have about solar panels humorously suggests the energy consumed to have solar panels outweighs the benefits of a the systems productions.
The theory speculates that the amount of electricity to gather the materials, manufacture the panels and components, ship those materials to the distributor, then deliver them to the installer, then customer, as well as the electricity needed to power the tools, outweighs the energy produced by the solar panels. Maybe… if the panels only worked for a year, but solar panels last 25+ years. Furthermore, the materials needed to create solar panels primarily come from aluminum and silicon. Here you can find more information about the production of solar panels.
So let’s Recap…
Going solar brings a lot of benefits with a relatively short timeframe for the ROI (5 years is average for commercial properties). However, it can be hard to remember them all, especially which ones are available to your place of worship. For that reason, we made a handy list to help summarize them all.
- 30% tax credit that can be used as a direct reimbursement for non-profit organizations
- Increase the 30% tax credit to 40% when the system consists of US-made equipment
- Many utility providers provide rebates for churches that go solar
- Going solar sends a good message to your congregation about environmental conservation
If you have any solar or backup power related questions unanswered here, please feel free to call us at (210) 401-9030 or send us an email at info@solaredgepros.com. We’re always happy to help.
