Solar credit may be broader

Electricity-generating system could qualify for $2,500 tax break

Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties have capped their tax credits to $250,000 a year. Harford County, which will fund up to $2,500 per household, has a $150,000 cap.

So many Marylanders signed up for state solar energy grants that the Maryland Energy Administration closed the waiting list Nov. 30. The grants applied to systems for thermal heating and electricity generation.

The MEA was able to pay for 80 projects with the roughly $600,000 it received from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, said Joe Cohen, the program manager for the solar and wind grant program at the MEA. The multistate initiative, which will dole out the money quarterly, is funded by selling emission allowances to utilities.

The MEA was offering up to $3,000 in grants for a solar water heating system, which typically costs $6,000 to $8,000. For a solar electricity system, the state was offering up to $10,000. A typical home would need a system that costs $30,000 to $40,000.

The sharp upturn in demand for the grants was probably because of rising electricity costs and the increase in funding available, Joe Cohen said. Last year, the state had offered a maximum of $3,000 for a solar electricity system.