- Author
- Ruegg, R. T.
- Title
- Evaluating Incentives for Solar Heating.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
- NBSIR 76-1127, September 1976, 61 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- solar heating | cost analysis | cost effectiveness | incentives | life-cycle cost analysis | solar energy
- Abstract
- This report provides a life-cycle cost model and a computer program for measuring the dollar impacts of alternative incentives on the private costs of a solar heating system. In addition, it applied the evaluation model in six case examples, for seven selected incentives. The purpose of the report is to assist state and Federal legislators in formulating effective policies for encouraging the widespread use of solar energy systems in buildings. It does this by promoting quantitative assessment of the kinds of incentive programs now being considered for adoption by many state legislatures and by the U.S. Congress. The results of the case examples indicate that the effectiveness of a given incentive program will differ by region, by type of building and by fuel prices; that in some states the incentive programs now being enacted will not be worth their administrative costs; and that an indepth assessment of policy implications should be made of the differential impact of incentive programs on residential versus commercial use of solar energy.