How to set up Incentives

Summary:

OpenSolar allows you to create custom incentives that can be applied to your projects to reflect local rebates, tax credits, and financial benefits. These incentives can be configured, managed, and automatically applied to streamline your workflow and improve proposal accuracy.

Table of contents:

Accessing the Incentive window

Creating a new incentive

Incentive Types Overview

• Fixed incentive type
• Size Based Incentive type
• Price-Based Incentive type
• Performance-Based Incentive type
• Depreciation Benefit Incentive Type
• Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit - US only
• Self-Generation Incentive Program - US only
• STC Point of Sale Discount - AU only
• Peak Hours Battery Incentive - AU only

Final Step

Accessing the Incentive window:

To access and manage incentives:

1. Navigate to Control > Other > Incentives.

2. You’ll see a list of all incentives currently available to your organization.

The Auto-Apply column indicates if the incentive is automatically added to new projects:

• : Automatically applied to new projects.

• : Must be manually selected.

You can use the action buttons to edit, duplicate, or delete any incentives:

Creating a new incentive:

To create a new incentive select the option + Add incentive in the top right corner. 

From the Create Incentive window, you will be able to enter:

• Title: This will be the tile that will show on the design and the proposal for your team and customer. 
• Auto-Apply toggle: When turned on, this incentive will be automatically added to your newly created projects and any existing projects after these have been recalculated
• Description: An optional description of what the incentive is can be added here
• Incentive type: Use this drop-down to select the type of incentive you are creating.

OpenSolar currently offers the following incentive types:

• Fixed
• Size Based Incentive
• Price Based Incentive
• Performance Based Incentive
• Depreciation Benefit
• Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit - US only
• Self-Generation Incentive Program - US only
• STC Point of Sale Discount - AU only
• Peak Hours Battery Incentive - AU only

We will review these incentive types below.

Incentive Types Overview:

Fixed incentive type:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Incentive value: Use this field to add the fixed amount this incentive is valued at. For example, if this incentive is a fixed $5,000 add 5,000 to this section
• Apply incentive over time period toggle: This toggle allows for the fixed amount to be paid over a set time period instead of upfront. When toggled on the following sections can be set:
• • Payment frequency: Select how frequently the payments will be. (Example: Weekly, Fortnightly, Bimonthly etc)
  • Number of terms
  • Is applied to utility bill
  • Use non-discounted value in quotation
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount form the loan amount. 

Size Based Incentive type:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Size-Based Incentive Type: Use this drop-down to select what section of the project will be used for the calculations:
• • PV System DC Capacity (kW)
  • PV System AC Capacity (kW)
  • Battery Usable Capacity (kWh)
  • Battery Nameplate Capacity (kWh)
• Value per unit: Enter the value that will be used to multiply times the project section.
• Apply incentive over time period toggle: This toggle allows for the fixed amount to be paid over a set time period instead of upfront. When toggled on the following sections can be set:
• • Payment frequency: Select how frequently the payments will be. (Example: Weekly, Fortnightly, Bimonthly etc)
  • Number of terms
  • Is applied to utility bill
  • Use non-discounted value in quotation
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount from the loan amount. 

Price-Based Incentive type:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Price-Based Incentive Type: Use this drop-down to select the type of price that will be used for the calculations. The following options are available:
• • Price Including Tax
  • Price Excluding Tax
  • Price Payable Including Tax
  • Price Payable Excluding Tax
• Percentage of price: Enter the percentage of the price that will be calculated. 
• Apply incentive over time period toggle: This toggle allows for the fixed amount to be paid over a set time period instead of upfront. When toggled on the following sections can be set:
• • Payment frequency: Select how frequently the payments will be. (Example: Weekly, Fortnightly, Bimonthly etc)
  • Number of terms
  • Is applied to utility bill
  • Use non-discounted value in quotation
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount form the loan amount. 

Performance-Based Incentive type:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Value by Year: The values here must be entered for each year using a comma to separate between each year. If the values are not supplied for all years, the system will use the last supplied value and repeat it for the remaining years. The annual adjustment percentage will be applied as well (If supplied)
• Number of Years: The number of years this incentive will simulate for.
• Annual Value Adjustment: This value sets the annual change in percentage for the price value. Positive numbers correspond to an increase and negative numbers correspond to a decrease.
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount form the loan amount. 

For example: If you want to make the price $0.0375/kWh for 5 years, decreasing the value by 2% every year then it would look like this:

Depreciation Benefit Incentive Type:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Depreciation Basis: This drop-down allows you to select which section of the project the depreciation will be applied to. The following options are available:
  • System Price Excluding Tax
  • System Price Including Tax
  • Purchase Price Excluding Tax
  • Purchase Price Including Tax
  • Net System Price Excluding Tax
  • Net System Price Including Tax
• Percentage of Incentive Basis: Use this field to state the percentage of the depreciation that can be depreciated
• Tax Rate: The tax rate (federal or state) that will determine tax savings.
• Tax Jurisdiction: Choose whether or not you are applying depreciation tax savings at the federal or state level
• Depreciation per year: Percentage value for a single year or multiple years (CSV format) for the MACRS schedule 
• Use non-discounted value in quotation: Use this field to select whether you want to include or exclude the discount rate from the depreciation benefit. 
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount from the loan amount. 

Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit - US only:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Max system size per system: 
• Percentage of price per system:
• Incentive cap per system:
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount from the loan amount. 

Self-Generation Incentive Program - US only:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Incentive price
• Is Paid PBI: When toggled on, this allows you to model any minimum discharge for the year. 
• Opted out of Resiliency Operation toggle: If a customer decides to opt out of resiliency, they will get a reduced incentive paid out depending on the discharge duration (hours) of the installed energy storage system. 

You can read more about this incentive here: How to model Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for Energy Storage?

STC Point of Sale Discount - AU only:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Incentive Price
• Years Remaining
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)
• Use for loan pay-down: When toggled on, this will discount the incentive amount from the loan amount. 

Note: This incentive must be modified each year. The "years remaining" must be changed to ensure your project shows the correct values

You can read more about this incentive here: 🇦🇺 How to Customise/Update STC settings?

Peak Hours Battery Incentive - AU only:

When selected, the following fields become available:

• Certificate Spot Price: PRCs are highly dependent on your project location with the system Network Loss Factor varying depending on distributor.
• Behind the Meter Contract (VPP): When modeling the BESS2, just toggle on the “Behind the Meter Contract (VPP)” and our calculations will be using the BESS2 parameters.
• Manually Override the Incentive Settings toggle: When toggled on, this will allow you to change the PCRS incentive parameters
• Cap amount: If this incentive has any maximum that it can not surpass enter that information in this field.
• Incentive paid to: State who receives this incentive (customer or installer)

You can read more about this incentive here: Understanding Incentives: NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme and Updates: Automated Modelling of the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Incentive

Final Step

After configuring your incentive, click the Save button to begin using this in your projects.